The Start
by sweasley
Summary: Every relationship has a spark, but every friendship has a start. Even the best of friends can face obstacles, which Ted Lupin & Victoire Weasley must learn the hard way. PREQUEL to "A Year in the Life" and "The Spark"
1. Prologue

_Disclaimer: If you recognize someone, they belong to JKR. The others are all creations of mine to fill the gaps. :) Plus, any similarities are accidental and completely unintentional._

**Summary: Every story has a beginning. Every relationship a spark. But most importantly, every friendship has a start. In Ted Lupin's life, his friendship with Victoire Weasley has always been one of the few constants he's always known. But what happens when things start to change? When new friends, girls, and life experiences start to disrupt what is familiar?**

**A/N: **Part 1 of 4. This is a prequel to my fics _**"A Year in the Life" **and** "The Spark."**_ They read best in order :)

* * *

**June 2016**

Hogwarts's graduation ceremony was held on a Saturday afternoon. N.E.W.T. exams had been completed after months and months of nervous preparation. Dormitories had been cleaned and emptied for the last time, while trunks had been packed and organized; never to return. As the entire collection of seventh-year students sat in the Great Hall being dutifully addressed by their headmaster, it was never more evident that the culmination of seven years worth of magical education was currently staring them in the face. This really was the end.

The headmaster droned on to the crowd of students—and family members who had attended—about how they _"are the future"_ and how they should be _"proud to have completed your magical education."_ The world was theirs for the taking, and the paths in front of them were long, optimistic, exciting—

"Boring…" Simon Reed whispered from his seat. He closed his eyes and let his head fall lazily to his hand.

Ted Lupin smiled from beside his friend, but kept his eyes fixated straight ahead. It was true that the headmaster's speech didn't seem to have an end in sight, but he figured this was all part of the pomp and circumstance of graduating. His last lecture as a Hogwarts's student as it were. He could suck it up for an hour or so.

He looked down at his Hufflepuff robes while the headmaster continued to speak. This was the last time he'd ever have to wear the yellow and black colors that had identified him and his house for the last seven years. A part of him felt a little sad about that, but a much larger part of him was relatively pleased. He'd never been a fan of the color yellow.

He glanced over his shoulder to the back of the room and attempted to find where his grandmother and Harry were. He had caught a glimpse of them—along with Harry's wife, Ginny—when he had walked in earlier, but he hadn't been able to find them since. He had hoped Harry would have brought his kids with him, but at the same time, he knew how dull they would have found this entire thing to be. After all, he was struggling to pay attention and this was his graduation ceremony. He could only imagine how restless James, Albus, and Lily would have been.

He turned back around and looked to his left. Simon was still trying his hardest to stay awake; his head slowly bobbing up and down as he kept blinking himself awake before drifting off again. Ted grinned and watched him struggle for a good minute before turning his attention to his right, where his girlfriend, Celia, was looking as if she was trying to pay rapt attention to everything the headmaster was saying. She looked rather sweet sitting there pretending to care, but Ted knew better. She always wanted to seem like she cared about stuff like this given that it was the right thing to do, but she was probably taking in as much of what was going on as Simon was.

He leaned back in his chair and took a long look around the Great Hall for what he knew would be his last time as a student. It was a weird feeling. He'd been so caught up in finishing this year, he hadn't really stopped to take in that this was his final year. Not until this very moment. This time next year, who knew where he'd be or what he'd be doing. Everything was changing.

Still, he couldn't help but think about all of the good and bad memories that were forever trapped between the walls of this castle. He liked to believe he was a different person than the eleven-year-old who had walked into the Great Hall seven years previously to be sorted, but he knew in some ways that he was still that exact same little boy. In certain senses, he always would be. But for the most part, he'd come a long way.

* * *

A/N: So, I'm back with the prequel! Part 1 of 4! (Part 2 being **"A Year in the Life,**" Part 3 being "**The Spark,"** which is _"A Year in the Life"_ from Ted's POV and Part 4 being a sequel to both _"A Year in the Life"_ and "_The Spark"_) :shakes head: This thing was supposed to be, like, 5 chapters originally, and then it turned into a three story series...What is wrong with me? ;)

Also, to add, I've started a livejournal this go around, because I'm much more likely to respond there to any questions people may have. Plus, I just find it more convient to communicate with. The link is in my profile, so if you have one, feel free to friend me. :)


	2. Werewolves and Dares

Ted's childhood had been pleasant enough. Raised by his maternal grandmother, Andromeda, who was helped along the way by his godfather, Harry, they had both worked hard to make sure that his life was as normal as possible…Well, as normal as it could have been what with his parents having been killed before he could even sit up on his own, him having been born as a Metamorphmagus with the innate ability to change his appearance at will, and, on top of everything, having a godfather who just so happened to be a world renowned celebrity hero. THE Harry Potter. Once one got past all of that though, Ted figured he was as normal as the next kid.

Throughout his youth--and for as long as he could remember--he'd heard the stories that people told about Harry. He'd notice them point and watch if he and Harry happened to be out and about, and he'd find himself staring at people curiously when they would randomly thank Harry on the streets. Of course, at that age he hadn't known what was so special about Harry or why he deserved all of the attention. It wasn't until he was older that he started to put all of the pieces together. Once he did, he almost didn't believe it. Harry—the same old boring Harry who played Gobstones with him and always made him finish all of his dinner before pudding—was the same person who'd destroyed the evilest wizard known to have existed? When he was seventeen? This Harry? Were they sure they had the right guy?

Even after Harry had sat him down at six-years-old and explained everything to him, Ted still found it all a little hard to believe. Harry never acted as if he was anything special. In fact, he often tried his hardest to ignore it all; something that as a child, Ted had found strange. After all, if it had been him who had saved the wizarding world from harm, he would have walked around wanting people to know just how great he was. He would have gone to the sweet shops and the Quidditch store and demanded all the free stuff that he could get! He wouldn't want to hide the fact.

But Harry was never like that. He was only concerned with keeping things as quiet as possible. He liked spending his time working at the Ministry and being with the people he cared about, not parading around looking for compliments. Ted supposed it was better this way. It allowed Harry more time to spend with him, which Harry always made the effort to make. He had always been great in that sense. Ted always knew that Harry could have easily lessened his involvement in his life if he wanted to, but he didn't. Not even after he and Ginny started a family of his own.

Ted was seven when Harry's first son, James, was born. Upon hearing the news that Ginny was having a baby, he had been excited at first, but slowly grew slightly terrified. At seven-years-old, he only chose to comprehend so much, and in this case, he had started to believe that a new baby may have equated to less interest in him. After all, why wouldn't Harry and Ginny prefer to dote on their own kid more? That's supposed to be natural.

His anxiety on the matter only heightened once James was born with his dad's nose and smile and his mum's eyes…Or so everyone said. As Ted soon realized, everyone had a lot to say about little James Potter. Random strangers on the street wanted to know all about him and even the _Daily Prophet _was running headlines claiming, "The Boy Who Lived has a Boy!" It was then that Ted knew that he couldn't compete with that. He resigned himself to realizing that it was only a matter of time before Harry and Ginny would stop telling him to come over entirely. He was just a disturbance to the baby now.

"What are you doing up here?" Harry had asked Ted after finding him hiding in an upstairs room a week after James's birth. "Too much baby madness for you?"

He nodded, but didn't look up. He was too busy pretending to be very interested in a crack in the wall.

"Yeah," he said quietly. "I figured this was all a bit mad for you. It's a bit mad for me too. I don't even know if I'll be a good dad."

Ted gave up on the wall crack and look at him. "I think you will be."

He smiled slowly. "You think?"

He nodded and wondered why Harry would even wonder such a thing. "I'm not so sure what exactly a dad is supposed to do, but you've always been really nice to me and I'd guess that's a big part of it." He looked backed at the crack in the wall. "You're the closest thing I've got to one."

"It means a lot to hear you say that, Teddy," he said.

"I guess so."

"I'm going to need help, though."

"Don't worry, you've got Ginny and she's good at figuring things out."

Harry laughed. "She is, isn't she? I just meant I'm going to need a little more help since you can never get enough. James is going to look up to you."

Ted looked up at him again. "He is?"

"Of course he is. You're going to be like a big brother to him."

"I am?" He hadn't thought of it that way.

"You don't think you are?"

He considered this. If Harry wanted him to be like a brother to James, that meant he wanted him around. It meant he wasn't going to get rid of him or tell him to stop coming over because he and Ginny had a perfectly good family of their own now. They wanted to include him! He smiled. "I guess I could be."

As it turned out, things really didn't change that much around Harry's house once the kids started coming. Things got a little noisier, and Harry and Ginny seemed a little more worn for the wear as the days went on, but things were relatively the same. Even after their second son, Albus, was born just a little more than a year after James; then two years after that, their daughter, Lily, arrived.

Ted did his part in trying to help in whichever ways he could—minus changing nappies. He refused to do that. After awhile, he wondered how he had ever been dumb enough to think that Harry would have given him the boot. In fact, given the way James preferred to listen to him over his parents, Ted considered Harry and Ginny lucky to even have him around.

* * *

Neither Harry nor Ted's grandmother lived anywhere near any other children his age, so Ted often found himself left on his own to find things to do to keep himself busy. He didn't mind being alone a lot of the time. He liked to read and he couldn't do that with other people. He liked to sit around and think a lot, but as much time as that fills in the day, there were plenty of instances were he would get lonely and bored. He wished for other kids to play with, but the opportunity only ever arose when Ginny would take him to visit her parents' house. There, he got to play with her brother Bill's three children— Victoire, the eldest, but still younger than Ted by almost two years, followed by twins, Dominique and Louis, who were a year younger than their older sister.

Due to their ages, Ted naturally found himself closest to Victoire, but this hadn't always the case. In fact, as smaller children, she annoyed the piss out of him. At as young as four, she talked far too much and was constantly pestering him about things that he had no desire to do. She loved being the center of attention, whereas he much preferred the background. She was loud and aggressive, while he was quiet and passive. Their personalities tended to conflict more often than not, and the sight of her little blonde head yelling in the front yard on any given day was all too common. Ted, in turn, rarely yelled back. Particularly after he realized that ignoring her tended to wind her up more than arguing back did.

In ignoring Victoire, he had thought that he'd discovered the perfect way of dealing with her, but he quickly learned this wasn't the case. It seemed that the more he ignored her, the more she wanted something to do with him. In fact, one day she claimed she had decided to fancy him. Out of nowhere, she suddenly fancied him—the boy who made a point of trying to ignore her. How did that even make sense? At seven, he couldn't wrap his head around this revelation, but he'd once overheard Ginny's brother, George, say that women were next to impossible to figure out. This had to have been what he meant.

"Why don't you like me?" asked a five-year-old Victoire as she and Ted sat in her grandparents' kitchen coloring together. Dominique was chasing Louis around the kitchen table and yelling loudly, while Ginny and Victoire's mum, Fleur, sat at the other end of the table talking amongst themselves.

He looked up from his drawing. She was watching him with her overly large blue eyes that took up most of her face and made her look bug eyed. He thought of the most obvious answer he could. "Because."

"If you don't like me, that means you hate me."

"I don't hate you," he mumbled, pressing his crayon harder to the parchment in front of him. He heard Fleur laugh and glanced up to see that she and Ginny were now smiling at the pair of them.

"Then you have to like me," Victoire said matter-of-factly. "It's one or the other."

"No, it's not," he said. "I like you, but I don't _like_ you."

He didn't even have to look at her to know she was glaring at him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her diliberately pick up the red crayon he had been using.

"I was going to give the man in my drawing blue hair like yours," she said, "but now I think I won't. I like red better anyway…"

This was how things were between the pair of them. Victoire would pick a stupid argument and then get mad when Ted would tell her that he didn't fancy her. She would then sulk until she either got bored, or forgot about why she had been mad in the first place. The cycle would then repeat itself the next day, and the next. It wasn't as if Ted could help it, though. He just didn't like girls. He couldn't see the point in kissing and couples and love. Harry kept telling him he'd grow out of it, but he didn't feel as if he was in any rush. Particularly if Victoire was the only girl available.

After months of this, Ted soon became convinced that Victoire would never be anything more than that annoying little girl who followed him around asking if he fancied her with any chance she got. At the same time though, she was the closest thing he had to a friend. Dominique and Louis were there, but being only three or four, they weren't much company for a seven-year-old. On top of that, what with Harry being busy with the new baby, Ted found himself with more and more free time on his hands. Whether he liked it or not, he soon found that Victoire was the best bet he had. Regardless of how aggravated she made him.

It wasn't until two years later, after he had turned nine, that a funny little thing happened. He didn't know if it was because he had finally just gotten used to Victoire or if it was because by the time she was seven, she'd finally moved on from her crush on him (she now much preferred the Seeker of the Puddlemere United Quidditch team after seeing him while flipping through a magazine). Whichever it was, on one very specific occasion, he suddenly didn't find her as annoying as he once did.

He had been sitting in the yard of his grandmother's house, stationed up against a tree that provided more shade than any of the others tree that were around. With a large book propped against his knees, he had just made motion to turn the page when the sound of a door opening and shutting caused him to look up. Several yards away, emerging from the back of the house, Victoire appeared. He watched as she cast a quick glance around, clearly looking for him, before settling her eyes onto where he was sitting. With a skip in her step, she began making her way in his direction. He inwardly groaned. He had forgotten she was supposed to come over today.

"Hiya Teddy!" she said in the always bright, but mostly annoying tone she often used.

"Hi."

"What are you reading?" she asked as she pointed at his book. "It looks heavy."

He sighed and closed his book. It looked heavy because it was. It was over one-thousand pages long and he had every intention of reading every word of it. He had to after what he had learned a few days prior.

He had been snooping around in some of his mother's old things—something he shouldn't have been doing without his grandmother's permission—but he had been curious after having stumbling upon some of her old correspondences. Most were letters that he had never seen before, and after noticing that some were from his father, he couldn't keep himself from reading them. He could practically feel his insides light up with excitement as he began to tear through each and every one, but it wasn't until he read one of the final letters that he discovered something he couldn't believe; something even more shocking than realizing that Harry was "The Harry Potter."

But there it was. Written in his father's own handwriting, which Ted had learned to recognize anywhere, was the admission:

"_There's been little progress with the other werewolves, but I've come to expect that. It's taking some time, but I'm hopeful that they'll soon see that I am one of their own and thus accept me into their ranks. I'll just have to be patient since my next transformation is approaching. Then after that, I will continue to collect all the information I can pertaining to Greyback's and the DE's intentions. I think a few may be suspect of my intentions, but I remain vigilant—" _

The note ended there. Ted read the neat scribble that had once come from his father's hand at least ten times. He was a werewolf. His father had been an actual, real live werewolf. How had no one ever told him about this? Why would they keep this a secret?

After reading, he had immediately gone straight to grandfather's study—a room that had remained virtually untouched since his death many years before. He scanned the shelves of books, pulling out the first one he found that had any mention of the word werewolves in the title. He began reading well into the afternoon, which soon turned into night. Over the next few days, he had found himself becoming virtually obsessed with the desire to know everything there was to know about werewolves. How they came to be, how they lived, how they transformed, how they survived in the world; he wanted to know everything about them and spend every free moment studying them…But then Victoire showed up and interrupted him, just as she had a habit of doing.

"It's a book on werewolves," Ted said in the hopes that she wouldn't ask anymore questions.

She made a strange expression as she sat down next to him and began glancing over the cover of his book. "What about them?"

"Everything. I want to know everything."

"Why?"

"Because," he said as he pursed his lips anxiously. He hadn't told anyone about what he had discovered, but that didn't mean he didn't want to. There was a reason that both Grams and Harry were keeping this from him and he wanted to know more about werewolves before asking them why. He was afraid that they might be mad him for finding out and make him stop learning about them.

"I hate werewolves," Victoire said suddenly. "They're horrible."

"They are not," he said as he thought of his father. He refused to believe he was in anyway horrible.

"They are too," she said, crossing her arms in front of her. "They hurt people." She hesitated. "Sometimes they kill people."

Ted glanced down at his book. He wondered if his father had ever killed anyone. The thought made him feel sick. "I bet there are some good ones," he mumbled.

"But there are more bad ones," she said as she pulled her long blonde hair out of her face. "Can I tell you something? Something you can't tell anyone because I'm not sure if I'm supposed to tell."

He looked at her curiously and nodded. Did she have a secret too?

"My dad was attacked by a werewolf," she whispered, even though they were the only people around. "One tried to bite him once and they ended up…" She gestured towards her face, which made Ted instantly think of Bill Weasley's mauled face. He had always been told that Bill had received his injuries from an accident during from the war. He would have never in a million years thought of something like this.

"Wow…" he said.

"He's not one, though," she added hastily. "A werewolf. He's not one."

"My dad was a werewolf," he said before he thought better of it.

Her jaw dropped. "How do you know?"

"I found out the other day after reading some old letters."

"But your dad and my dad were friends. Why would my dad be friends with a werewolf after what happened to him?"

"Maybe they're not all are bad?" he said optimistically, thinking once again of his father. "What if you're a good person and you just get bit? Do you just go bad?"

She shook her head as if she was unsure. "Can they control themselves once they've changed into…?" She trailed off. "You know?"

He didn't know the answer to that. He didn't know the answers to any of her questions because her questions were the same ones he had; the very same questions he was trying to find answers to. As a result, both he and Victoire ended up spending that afternoon sitting there under that very tree trying to search through his book for any and all answers they could find. By the end of the afternoon however, they'd only ended up with more and more questions.

It seemed that Ted's new curiosity and interest in werewolves piqued Victoire's own interest on the subject, and she soon became just as interested in them as he was. From that day forward, just as they had that day under the tree, they found themselves spending the summer talking in whispers about everything and anything they could find on the subject of werewolves.

It became a game of sorts to see who could come up with the most interesting new fact or who could discover the most obscure detail. Ted found himself thankful for Victoire's company on his pursuit to uncover more information, and he was more than aware that without her, he wouldn't have found half the things he had learned. It was with her help that they discovered the horrible treatment and prejudice that Ted's father and others had suffered over the course of their lives, since it had been Victoire who had asked her father the questions that Ted had been too afraid to ask. Soon, it became obvious that Victoire wanted answers just as much as he did, and Ted had a sneaking feeling that her curiosity stemmed from realizing just how close her own father had come to similar a fate.

It was also that summer that Ted realized, werewolves aside, that Victoire was a valuable person to have around. At seven, she was already more outgoing, aggressive, and unafraid of people than he'd ever been. She wasn't scared to ask the man at Flourish & Blotts for all the information they had on werewolves, and she wasn't afraid to walk straight up to his grandmother and ask her why she hadn't told Ted about his father (she was apparently waiting until he started school). He was actually beginning to grow pretty fond of her as a friend. She was cleverer than he had given her credit for, and the more he really got to know her, the more he realized that she was full of all sorts of interesting observations. On the day she confessed to him that she considered him her best friend, he oddly enough didn't feel strange about it. He actually quickly found himself agreeing with her. She was his best friend and he was glad to have her around…Well, most days.

"If you fell, do you think you'd die?" Ted asked on one of the last days of that summer as he and Victoire stood next to the seaside cliffs by her house. They weren't supposed to be anywhere near the cliffs, given that they were high and dangerous, but they had found themselves bored during the long hours of the afternoon.

"Yes," she said as she hung back several steps. She was always afraid to get too close to the edge. "Come on, Teddy. Let's go back to the garden."

He continued to examine the rocks and the seawater below for another moment, even going so far as to put the tips of his shoes on the very edge of the cliff. "Dare me to jump?"

"No!" She sounded horrified. "No!"

He laughed. He would have never actually jumped, but he liked winding her up. She was so often the brave one between the two of them, that he sometimes felt that he should at least pretend to do something to show that he wasn't such a baby.

"Teddy, please. Let's go."

"Fine." He laughed and stepped back of the edge. "You worry too much."

She made a face as they both began walking back towards her house. "Would you have really jumped?"

"If you had dared me, yeah," he lied.

"What does it matter if I dared you?"

"Because you have to do a dare," he said matter-of-factly. "You have no choice."

She started at him questioningly. "So, if I dare you to climb that tree over there, you'd do it?"

He nodded. "I'd have to."

She smiled and pointed to a nearby tree, arguably the largest one in the Weasley's yard. "I dare you to climb it to the top."

He stared up at the tree. He'd climbed it before, but never to the top. "Okay, but once I've done mine, you have to do a dare, too."

She shrugged as if she agreed, and Ted set off to climb, while she stood at the bottom watching him. It took him the better part of fifteen minutes to get to the top and back down again, but once he did, he set straight to work at thinking of a dare for her to complete. He challenged her to go and touch the edge of the cliff that she wouldn't so much as set five feet near, and after quite a bit of moaning and groaning on her part, she managed to do it before running back with another dare for him.

They spent the next hour daring each other to do the most random and silly things, always trying to out do the other. Ted wasn't about to let a seven-year-old girl beat him. He assumed she felt the same way about letting him win, though, because it soon became clear that each of them were on a mission to get the other to chicken out first.

"I've got one," she said while they both sat on the lawn, taking a small break. Ted sat up and smiled. Having completed every dare she'd given him so far, he was prepared to once again show her that he could take anything she could throw at him. After all, she still believed he would have jumped off the cliff.

"Bring your worst," he said.

"I dare you," she smirked, "to kiss me."

He instantly stopped smiling. "What?"

"I dare you to kiss me," she repeated without hesitation. "And it has to be on the lips."

"Why?" he asked with a mixture of fear and hesitation in his tone. That was her dare? She would have to suffer through it too, yet she wasn't even flinching. Why would she want to kiss him? Why would anyone want to kiss anyone?

"I'm curious," she said. "I want to know what it's like."

"To kiss me?"

"To kiss a boy," she corrected. "And since you're a boy…" She shrugged. "Don't you want to know how it feels?"

"No," he said bluntly. "Not really. Not at all."

"But I dared you. You said you had to do it if I dared you."

"There are exceptions," he said as he racked his brain for an excuse in case she asked for one. He stood up and felt his face getting hot. He touched his cheek and hoped he wasn't blushing. He really didn't want to have to kiss her.

"You won't kiss me, but you would have jumped off a cliff?" she asked in disbelief. "You chicken out at this?"

"I just don't want to play anymore. Let's do something else."

She stood up in an annoyed huff. "Like what?"

He looked around for an idea, thankful that the matter of kissing was now over. He suggested that could go exploring. She begrudgingly shrugged, but put up little protest as they soon both found themselves walking through the thick forest of trees that bordered her house. It was something they'd done a hundred times before, but anything was better than the previous option of kissing. Ted had just begun contemplating climbing another tree to get a better view of the landscape around them when a clap of thunder roared through the sky at that very moment.

"I'll race you back," Victoire yelled as she took off through the trees. Ted watched her go, knowing full well that even with the head start, he could easily beat her if he wanted to. Once he did take off sprinting through the trees towards her house, he did easily pass her; reaching the house with time to spare.

Panting and out of breath, he lay down on the ground and waited for her to catch up. He looked up to see several storm clouds rolling in off the sea overhead, right as Victoire appeared from the trees and headed towards him. She was trying to catch her breath, all while grabbing at a stitch in her side.

He laughed. "I won."

She plopped down onto the ground beside him. "I know," she mumbled.

"One day you'll remember that you can't beat me."

She rolled her eyes. "I beat you earlier in that one game. The one where you wouldn't kiss me."

"You can have that win."

"Kissing can't be that bad," she said bitterly. "You're acting like I'm a freak."

He laughed again. "Well, you sort of are."

"You're being a jerk."

"I am not," he said with the laughter still in his tone. For some reason, he found all of this very funny. The look of annoyance on her face as she glared at him only seemed to make him want to laugh more and he wasn't entirely sure why. His laughter was short lived though, because in that very next second, Victoire had leaned forward and grabbed both of his arms, pinning them at his sides.

"What are you do—?" he began before she pressed her lips against his. She immediately hopped to her feet seconds later.

"Ha, I win!" she said before she took off sprinting towards her house.

He barely moved as she went. He simply laid there, his irritation steadily rising as several drops of rain began plopping onto his face. As if snapping out of a trance, he suddenly sat up straight, reached for his face, and started vehemently wiping his lips with the back of his sleeve, even spitting for good measure. He couldn't believe she had just done that.

The absolute last thing he ever wanted to do was kiss her, and she had just gone and done it because she thought she was being funny! Well, it wasn't funny at all. He hoped she would find it just as funny when he decided never to speak to her again, because that's what he was going to do from this point forward. Never again.

Of course, "never again" only turned out to be few days time. Ted wasn't even sure Victoire knew he had stopped speaking to her given her chirpy tone when she came by to tell him that she had found a brand new book on werewolves. In the end, his interest in werewolves trumped his desire to stay mad at her, so he chose to forget all about it. It wasn't as if he could never really stay mad at Victoire anyway. It wasn't worth the energy to try.


	3. A MegaWhatAgus?

"But I won't know anybody," Ted said, pushing his trolley after Harry and James as they passed through the barrier at Platform 9 ¾. He was eleven and just like all other wizard children in Britain, he was packed and ready to be sent off to school for his first of seven years. Just like the other major changes in his life, he entered the situation both excited and terrified of what was to come. Though, he wasn't exactly sure which one he felt more at the moment.

"You'll know Hagrid," Harry said as he held James by the hand and led him through the crowd. Ted tried to follow, but his eyes had immediately fallen to the enormous scarlet steam engine that lay before him. He'd heard all about the Hogwarts Express, but to now see it made his heartbeat quicken. "And you'll know Neville—er, Professor Longbottom," Harry added.

He sighed. Yes, he would know them, but they were teachers and they didn't count. He was worried that he wouldn't know anyone his own age.

"I knew less people than that on my first day," Harry said. "Most people don't know anyone, Teddy."

"Look at the train!" James yelled. He was pointing excitedly.

"Yes," Harry said, dropping to one knee to be next to his son. "Only a few more years and then you can ride it." He glanced back at Ted and smiled. "Only a few more minutes until you can."

Ted took a nervous breath and reached up to anxiously flatten his hair down. It was the first time in ages that he had consciously made the effort to wear it brown. He didn't want to stick out and be strange in front of the other kids. More than anything, he just wanted to blend in.

"You'll do great," Harry encouraged. "Got all your stuff?"

Ted looked at the trolley he had been pushing. He had spent all of last night packing and repacking his books and robes, so he knew they were safely tucked away. His wand was in his pocket, and the owl that Harry had bought him, who he had called Auggie, was currently sitting in his cage atop his trunk. He nodded.

"You're all set then." He smiled. "Be sure to write and let us know what house you get."

He nodded again.

"Say bye to Teddy," Harry said, nudging James.

His little face fell. "Does he have to go?"

"Afraid so," Harry said.

James stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Ted's waist. Ted couldn't help but notice how big he'd gotten recently. "Bye Teddy," he said as his brown eyes looked up at him.

"Bye," he said as Harry put a comforting hand on Ted's shoulder, giving him a small squeeze. Somewhere nearby, a woman was asking if that was Harry Potter standing there.

"If you need anything," Harry said. "Let us know."

"I will," Ted said, forcing a brave smile.

Harry smiled once again as he grabbed James by the hand and watched as Ted pushed his trolley closer to the train. Ted glanced back at them once more, but saw that Harry was already leading James back towards the barrier to King's Cross. He was officially on his own then.

After boarding the train, the ride to Hogwarts hadn't seemed very long, but that was because Ted had somehow managed to sleep through most of the journey. Once awake, he was surprised to see how fast it had taken them to get there, though, he forgot about that thought quickly enough once he recognized Hagrid. He was standing on the platform as Ted disembarked the train, his grey beard standing out brightly against the dark cloak he was wearing. Ted waved to him, but he didn't seem to recognize him until he was standing in front of him

"Didn't notice ya with yer hair brown!" Hagrid said as he led Ted and the other first years towards the lake. "I'm always used to seeing it be different colors. Ya look a lot like yer dad with it like that."

Ted smiled as Hagrid began announcing to each of the first year that they needed to board a boat and keep their arms and legs inside. Ted did as he was told, finding himself in a boat with three other kids who all seemed just as awestruck by the entire experience as he did. As the boat glided across the glassy lake, drawing closer and closer to the Hogwarts castle, Ted's stomach jumped. This was all really happening.

Upon disembarking the boats and being lead up to the castle, all of the first-years were lined up in a single file and told to march into the Great Hall to await further instructions. As the double doors opened and the line of kids lurched forwards, Ted's pulse immediately sped up. The entire school was watching! Four long tables lined the room, and above each, banners declaring which house each belong to. He scanned each of them quickly and wondered which one he'd soon be sitting at.

At the front of the room, a tiny wizard was carrying an old looking hat towards a stool that had been set up in front of them all. Everyone watched the wizard curiously, and Ted wondered what on earth that hat had to do with anything. No one had bothered to tell him what the sorting process was like because both Harry and his friend Ron had claimed that it was better to be surprised about it. As Ted stood there listening to the old hat suddenly begin to sing a random song to the entire room, he started to wish someone would have told him something. Maybe then, he wouldn't be so nervous.

The hat abruptly stopped singing and he room grew eerily quiet. It was then that the tiny wizard from before pulled out a large scroll and cleared his throat.

"Abernathy, Malcolm," he said in a squeaky voice, as one of the boys from the boat Ted had traveled across the lake with stumbled forward. He took a seat on the stool, while the tiny wizard then placed the old hat on his head. Ted took the moment to chance a glance around at the other first years. He was relieved to see that most of them looked just as confused as he did.

"Gryffindor!" the hat bellowed. One of the tables on the far side of the room suddenly exploded in loud applause. The boy hopped off the stool and proceeded to walk over to the now cheering table, just as the tiny wizard called for, "Asher, Belinda."

One after the other, students had the hat placed on their heads, which then sorted them into their various houses. Ted laughed to himself. That was it, then? That was all he had to do? Put on some stupid old hat and it would do all the work? This was almost too good to be true.

"Lupin, Ted," said the wizard suddenly. Ted looked up at the stool and suddenly realized that was his name. He took several steps forward, swallowing hard before approaching the stool to sit. As he did, the wizard dropped the hat onto his head. To his surprise, as soon as the hat touched his head, a voice that he hadn't heard before suddenly began to speak to him.

"My, my," it said as he sat up straighter, "where shall we put you? Ambitious, yes…Intelligent too, I see. But let's not forget your well rounded sense of loyalty. You could go anywhere, really. But what is the best fit? Hmmm…I think I know—"

"Hufflepuff!" the hat shouted. One of the tables in the center of the room started clapping happily.

Ted smiled as he hopped off the stool. A huge sense of relief came over him as he walked towards the Hufflepuff table. He'd gotten his mum's old house. He suddenly wondered if she would be proud of him for this. He knew Harry and his Grams would be surprised since they had both assumed that he would get Gryffindor like his dad, but he thought Hufflepuff was just as good; maybe even better.

After a large feast that followed the sorting, the first years all followed a lanky looking prefect out of the Great Hall and down a set of stairs, where they were led down a very long corridor. After being taught how to enter their common room through a password protected portrait, the lanky prefect then explain a few established rules before instructing them as to where their dormitories were.

Through a barrel shaped entrance way, Ted walked three doors down to where the prefect had indicated. He was the first of the boys in his year to reach the door, though two boys had followed him down the corridor. He pushed the door open and looked inside. It was a fairly large room; much bigger than his bedroom at his grandmother's house. It was circular shaped and contained three four-poster beds, each with golden colored curtain that were currently drawn back to reveal the beds themselves. He smiled widely as he saw the size of the bed. That was definitely larger than the little twin he had at home.

"There are only three of us?" asked a chubby, round faced, blonde boy who had followed Ted inside. "I wonder why so small? My mum and dad said they had five people a piece in their rooms."

"My dad thought this would happen," said a dark skinned boy who appeared behind them. "He says it's because we were all born during the height of the war. I bet the years after us will be packed full of kids, though. You know, baby boom and all."

"Oh, I suppose that makes sense," said the blonde boy as he recognized his trunk and crossed the room towards it. He jumped onto his bed and grinned back at the others. "I'm Simon, by the way."

"Caleb," said the other boy.

"I'm Ted," he began to say, just as his nose started to tickle. He reached up to cover his face right before a loud sneeze escaped him. "Excuse me."

Simon's eyes were suddenly wide. He was staring directly at Ted. "How'd you do that?"

"Do what?" Ted asked hesitantly. He hadn't meant to do anything, but he knew he had the tendency to do strange things when his body was taken by surprise.

"Your hair went turquoise or something," said Caleb. He too was now watching him. "Right as you sneezed."

"Oh…um, yeah, sometimes when I sneeze I can't control…" He lowered his voice and mumbled "I'm a Metamorphmagus."

"What'd you say?" asked Simon. "I couldn't hear you."

"You're a mega-what-agus?" asked Caleb.

"A…" He hesitated. He hated admitting he was different from everyone else. "A Metamorphmagus."

"What's that mean?" Simon asked.

"I can change my appearance," he mumbled nervously. He always found that this was a particularly awkward conversation to have with people. Either they already knew what a Metamorphmagus was and would gawk at him as if he was an amusing spectacle, or they didn't know and they would gawk at him as if he was a freakish spectacle.

"Can you change in to anything?" Caleb asked, seemingly interested.

He smiled a little. At least he wasn't being made fun of. "Well, I can't turn into a table or something like that, but I can't change my face and my body and stuff to look like other people. Or I can just change into what I want."

"No way!" Simon yelled. "Show us!" He looked at Caleb. "Turn into him!"

"Yeah!" Caleb agreed.

"Well, I'm still learning stuff," he said honestly. "I'm not really good at changing into other people yet. I mean, I can, but I'd probably screw something up. I'd give you too big a nose or something."

"Then show us anything," Simon said excitedly. "I just want to see."

"Okay…" Ted said slowly, focusing his eyes onto the ground. Just then, his hair immediately turned blue; the way he much preferred it to be. He didn't need a mirror to know he had done it given that both Simon and Caleb were now looking equally impressed and amused. He decided to take it a step further and shrunk himself down a foot. Then made his nose balloon three sizes too big, before shrinking it back down again. He grew his hair out to various lengths, stretched his ears, and changed his eye color to every color he could manage.

"How do you do that?!" Caleb asked.

Ted shrugged and smiled. "I was born this way. My mum was one, so I guess I got it from her."

"You're so lucky," Caleb said. "If you don't like something about yourself, you can make it whatever you want."

"Not really," he said, suddenly turning back into his natural skinny self. "It's a lot of concentration to make myself look really different. It's easier to just stay myself."

"So, is this what you're supposed to look like?" Simon asked as he observed him. "Or do you really look like something else entirely?"

"This is me," he said as he looked himself up and down. "Oh except"—his hair suddenly faded to brown—"now this is me."

Simon clapped. "That's so cool."

"Seriously," Caleb said as he pulled out a pair of pajamas from his trunk. "Really cool."

Ted grinned. His roommates seemed to think that what he could do was impressive rather than freakish, which was a huge relief. Maybe what he could do was actually cool?

Later that night, as he crawled into bed for a much needed night of sleep, Ted found himself wondering if whether or not Harry may have been right. Maybe things were going to be okay. In fact, maybe change wasn't so bad after all.

* * *

Before he really knew where the time had gone, Ted's first two years of school had all but flown by. The years had come and gone due in large part to the fact that he genuinely enjoyed school. Not just the social parts, but the actual lessons were something he found himself enjoying, too. Of course, not all of them captured his interests, but most of them did; Potions especially, once he realized that the subject came somewhat naturally to him. While he managed decent marks in all of his lessons, he excelled at Potions—often getting the highest marks in the class.

For the most part, Hogwarts was beginning to agree with him. He had started settling into the everyday flow of things and was quickly learning the ins and outs of the castle. He liked his professors and what they were learning, but most importantly, he liked that he was meeting new people and making new friends.

He had especially clicked with Simon, who he had the most in common out of everyone he had met. They shared the same sense of humor, and enjoyed a lot of the same things, including music, Gobstones Club, and Quidditch—which similarly enough, they both claimed to love watching but were rubbish at playing. Their personalities seemed to click on many levels, which was rather funny considering that they both came off as two very different people.

Simon was a thick skinned kid who let little bother him. He wasn't afraid to say exactly what was on his mind and he wasn't afraid of what people might think if he did say it. If you asked his opinion about something, he never tip-toed around the issue; instead he would give his honest view of things. His sense of humor was similar--blunt, obvious, and to the point. It was something not everyone always appreciated.

At twelve, Ted was the opposite of those things. Hyper-aware of everything he said to people, sensitive to the issue of people talking about him, and always trying to find the best way to not hurt someone's feelings if he could avoid it. He would let Simon do most of the talking, whereas he would stand back and observe.

It was Simon's bluntness and Ted's indirectness that made them the most different. When Maggie Connors had asked Simon and Ted in Transfiguration one day to tell her friend Celia that her pigtails were fine looking—even though they were crooked—Ted merely nodded. Simon, however, not only told her they were crooked, but also told her they looked rather stupid. Celia ended up crying in the bathroom for the rest of the afternoon.

"I didn't mean to make her cry," Simon had said, completely oblivious to how his words had sounded. "It's not like I thought _her_ pigtails were stupid, I think all pigtails are stupid! That's what I meant. I tell my sisters that all the time."

"And do they get mad at you?" Ted asked him.

"Well, yeah," he said, "but they get mad at everything…"

For as different as they could be, the two boys generally did play off each other well. Ted tended to find Simon's bluntness amusing, since a lot of the time, Simon was merely saying what Ted was already thinking. In turn, Simon knew this, and used it to help Ted try and come out of his shell more. At times, Simon even attempted to take a page out of Ted's book and watch what he was saying, but no matter how hard he tried, his opinions were hard to keep to himself. As Ted began to realize though, this wasn't always such a bad thing.

"Why are you in here?" asked Simon one afternoon after finding Ted behind the drawn curtains of his bed.

Ted sighed. The truth was he was hiding and trying to avoid the rest of the day, but that didn't seem to be working. "Bad day."

"How can it be a bad day?" Simon asked as he pulled the curtain back and plopped himself down at the foot of his bed. "They're having roast beef for dinner. It's impossible to have a bad day when we're having roast beef."

"I don't even like roast beef much…"

Simon's jaw dropped. "You're mental."

Ted sighed again. "I know."

"What do you mean, 'you know?'"

He sat up, his expression heavy. "You know that stupid group of older blokes? They mostly hang out on the lawn over by the lake?"

"Yeah," Simon said with a nod. "Bennivus Morter, that big Slytherin who's like their leader, he pushed me down a hill a few weeks ago." He made a face. "Stupid wanker."

Ted sighed. "Yeah, well. I guess they decided it was my turn, because they started calling me all sorts of names. They were making fun of my hair and saying it wasn't normal to be able to do what I can do. Apparently, I'm sort of a super freak. Just this morning, that one Ravenclaw guy, Riley something or other, he kept throwing things at me trying to tell me to 'change into something cool.'" He frowned. "Like I'm some sort of sideshow."

"Sod them," he said dismissively. "Everyone knows their idiots, and they pick on everyone they can."

"I would normally," Ted said. "I'd usually just ignore them, but now, whenever they see me in the corridors, they scream it out for everyone to hear. They've even got other people in on it because they think it's funny."

"So, sod them all."

"That's easier said that done," he mumbled as he plopped back down. "I hate being a Metamorphmagus."

"Well, now you sound like an idiot."

Ted glanced down at him. "Why? I'd give anything to just be normal."

"And I'd give anything to be able to do what you could do," Simon said. "See this." He pointed to his forehead, where Ted could just make out a small spot forming.

"You've got a spot?"

"Have you ever had a spot or a pimple or anything?"

Ted shook his head.

"You don't even have a damn freckle," Simon added in an annoyed tone. "You sliced your finger in Potions the other day and you just made it go away."

"I didn't really," he said as he held up the finger in question and examined it. His unblemished skin instantly morphed to reveal a small, healing cut that ran down the length of his index finger. He held it up for Simon to see. "I just hid it. It's not like I made it disappear"

Simon threw him a weary look. "I just hid it…" he repeated. "Jeez Ted, you can change what you don't like about yourself. How is that a bad thing?"

"It's really not all it's cracked up to be," he said with a shrug.

"Are you thick or something?"

Ted looked insulted.

Simon hopped off the bed. "Whatever. Feel sorry for yourself. Those wankers are going to make fun of you no matter what. They make fun of everyone younger and smaller than them."

"I'm allowed to be bothered by it, just so you know."

"Sure, I guess." He shrugged. "But, I just know that if I let everyone who made fun of me for being pudgy actually get to me, then I'd be a rather sad person to be around, wouldn't I?"

Ted stared at him.

"It's just not worth it," he added.

Those very words continued to resonate in Ted's head for the rest of the afternoon. It was true. He never did see Simon get down when someone teased him about his pudginess—and people did. He supposed there were things about everyone that they wished were more normal or average, but you can't always control how things are all the time. If Simon could shrug it off, then Ted should at least make an effort to try.

From that day forward, thanks in part to Simon, Ted decided that he was going to embrace it his abilities. If kids were going to call him weird, he was at least going to give them a reason to. He was going to stop caring about blending in so often and he was going to start wearing his hair how he liked it, no matter what anyone said. After all, a lot people did happen to say that they thought it was pretty cool. As Professor Longbottom had told him during a Herbology lesson one day, it was his job to add a little color to a school full of black robes.


	4. Victoire the Popular

Just when Ted felt like he was finally getting used to life as a second year, it was already time to start preparing for his third year. Third year meant a new selection of classes, more responsibility, and most importantly, trips to Hogsmeade that he was now old enough to attend. It also happened to mean that Victoire was now starting school, too. A fact she wouldn't soon let anyone forget.

Every summer since he'd started Hogwarts, Ted had returned to find Victoire ready to sit him down and make him promise to tell her everything he had seen, done, or experienced. For the most part, he had happily obliged. It made him feel special to have done something she hadn't done— or couldn't do—because she wasn't old enough. He wasn't a particularly boastful person, but he did get a little sense of pleasure out of watching her jealously listen to everything he told her. He'd be lying if he said it didn't feel nice to actually have something she wanted for once, since it was she who usually had everything. At least when it came to a happy family with both parents alive and even siblings to play with.

"So what happens when they sort you?" Victoire asked as she followed Ted onto the Hogwarts Express after bidding a final goodbye to her family. He had actually been surprised at how much Victoire's mum had cried, but Victoire hadn't seemed fazed at all. In fact, she was already rattling off question after question about what she should expect once they got to school.

"I wouldn't tell you before," he said as they found a compartment. "What makes you think I'm going to tell you now?"

"I just don't see why it's such a big secret," she said as she looked out the train's window and onto the platform outside. "I can't believe I'm finally going to Hogwarts."

He smiled. "You'll like it. It's a lot of fun. Hopefully, you'll get put into Hufflepuff."

She sat down across from him. "My entire family has been in Gryffindor, though. It's where they expect me to go."

"You might not."

"I'm nervous," she said as she started bouncing her knees up and down. "I hope people are nice."

"There are nice people and mean people," he said before pulling out one of his new spell books. He started flipping through it.

"Can you at least tell me what happens when I get there?"

"You get off the train," he teased. As he said it, their compartment door suddenly slid open and Simon appeared, lugging his trunk behind him.

"Hey," he said as he pulled his trunk in. "I was hoping you were already ready here." He turned from Ted and noticed Victoire. His mouth dropped a little.

"Simon, this is Victoire," Ted said without looking up from his book. "Vic, this is Simon. I've told you about each other."

"Hi!" Victoire said brightly.

"Hi…" Simon said in a faraway sort of way. "You're…Uh…You…Really pretty."

Ted looked up from his book. He threw Simon an awkward expression that begged to ask what he was doing, but Simon was still too preoccupied with staring at Victoire to even notice.

"Thank you," Victoire said as she blushed and glanced at Ted. He looked from her, to Simon, before deciding to pretend that none of that had just happened. He pulled his book up in front of his face.

"You're a first-year, then?" Simon asked her.

"Yes." She nodded. "I'm nervous."

"Oh, don't be," he said. "School's great. A lot of fun. You're great—er, I mean you'll do great."

Ted dropped his book down and stared at Simon again. What on earth had gotten into him? Simon looked a little embarrassed by his stutter and turned to Ted for some sort of positive reassurance. Ted just shook his head wearily.

"Maybe you'll tell me about the sorting ceremony," Victoire said to Simon.

"Anything," he said eagerly.

"Don't," Ted said as he shook his head. "She's got a few more hours and she's waited this long. It'd pointless to ruin the surprise now."

Both Victoire and Simon looked put-off by his comment, but things relaxed once the train set off towards school. Simon even seemed to finally remember how to speak properly, and Ted couldn't decide if he was more amused or disturbed at his attempts at flirting with Victoire. One, because it was Victoire he was flirting with, and two, because it was Simon doing the flirting. The idea of both of these actions were awkward enough on their own, let alone combined.

Victoire seemed to be taking everything in stride, though. She did most of the talking, just as she often did, and Simon hung on her every single word as though it was his job to do so. Even when she was talking about the most random topics imaginable.

"Which way is the loo?" she asked halfway through the journey. Ted pointed left down the corridor, and she stood and disappeared into the direction he had indicated.

Simon waited for the door to shut entirely behind her before rounding on Ted. "She's the prettiest girl I've ever seen."

Ted rolled his eyes. "She is not."

"She is! Name someone prettier."

He thought about that. It wasn't that he couldn't name someone prettier; it was that he hadn't really thought about it before. There were plenty of girls that he'd seen that he thought were pretty, but he'd never really stopped to make a note of them. "There just are."

"You really don't think she's pretty?"

"She's not ugly, I guess. But," he made a face, "I guess I just don't see it. I've known her forever, so to me she's just normal."

"I wish I'd known her forever."

"Well, then you wouldn't be sitting here thinking she was '_the prettiest girl I've ever seen_,'" he joked. "Now would you?"

"You're blind."

He laughed. "I'd rather be blind than acting like a complete mental case like _some_ people…"

Little did Ted know that this was just a taste of the future that Victoire had in store for her. Of course, it didn't happen right away. She was sorted into Gryffindor—Ted was fairly sure that Simon was more upset about this than he was—and although she and Ted were separated into different houses, they still managed to remain close all through her first year. They always made the effort to meet and talk when they could, and the only real change was that they were now usually joined Simon in addition to just the two of them.

It was during Victoire's second year that Ted began to take notice of everything new that was starting to surround her. Almost over night, people started to become friendlier and more pleasant with her. Random people she didn't even know were suddenly greeting her in the corridors and asking her how she was doing. It all seemed so strange, but nothing was stranger than when Ted began to notice the random boys who had started letting their gazes linger on her for several moments longer than normal. That was starting to become more and more apparent. It seemed that Simon wasn't the only one who happened to find Victoire particularly attractive.

As it was, Victoire barely seemed to notice the attention. When she did happen to, she thankfully never made a big deal out of it. The last thing Ted needed to hear about was how she was so well liked by everyone and how she had half the school ready to queue up to talk to her. He didn't think he could handle her if she started acting like that.

Still, even with the fear of it all going to her head, it never stopped Ted from pointing out everything he'd noticed to her. She seemed to find his claims about the attention she was receiving rather laughable, always telling him that he was "seeing things" or "overreacting." In turn, he would tell her she was being oblivious to it all, which caused them to frequently go back and forth on the subject. Ted found it more amusing to tease her about it rather than just ignore it. After all, he was always trying to find new ways to wind her up.

"I think that one's in love with you," Ted whispered as he and Victoire sat in the library doing their homework one evening during his fourth year. He was pointing at some Slytherin boy who was sitting a few tables over from them. It was the fourth random boy he'd claimed was in love with her over the last hour

Victoire sighed uncomfortably before blushing. "No one's in love with me."

"Simon's in love with you."

She shook her head, but said nothing. She continued to force herself to read through her year two spell book. Ted looked around for someone he could tease her about, and noticed a group of seventh years sitting across the room. They were all too old. It was only funny when he picked boys closer to her age.

"I can't wait until you fancy someone," she muttered. "I'm going to tease you and see how you like it."

"Well, don't expect me to tell you."

She looked up at him. "You tell me everything."

"No, I don't."

"You don't?"

"I'm not going to tell you everything," he said as he picked his quill back up, "especially if you plan on taking the piss."

She frowned, but he merely shrugged. She couldn't really expect him to tell her everything. That was ridiculous. After all, some things are meant to be kept private. Plus, the truth was, he did happen to have taken a small fancy to someone recently, but he'd rather bathe in Bubotuber puss than have anyone know about it. Even Victoire...actually, especially Victoire since she'd never shut up about it.

It had happened a month earlier. He had been sitting in double Potions with the Ravenclaws, only half listening to Professor Holt's review on Wit-Sharpening Potions, which he already knew inside and out. In his bored stupor, he had found himself staring at the back Elizabeth Cole's head. She happened to be sitting in front of him that day, and he couldn't help but notice that she had really pretty hair. It was dark and quite shiny.

Professor Holt continued talking as he walked to the back of the room, lecturing about various ingredients. The entire class turned in their chairs to watch him, including Elizabeth. As she did, she lazily rested her head against her hand. She looked bored. Ted wondered if that was because she, like him, had already understood all of this the first time they had learned it or if she really just hated the subject. He continued watching her as she absently began doodling on a sheet parchment in front of her. For whatever reason, he couldn't stop watching at her. She had a perfect profile. All of her features fit perfectly on her face.

"Miss Cole," said Professor Holt suddenly. Elizabeth's eyes darted up from her drawing towards him. "How many counterclockwise strokes do we stir after adding the armadillo bile?"

"Oh," she said quickly as she glanced at her book. "Umm…I'm not sure, sir."

Holt sighed. "Does anyone want to help Miss Cole? I'd hate to take points away from Ravenclaw—"

Ted's arm shot up faster than he would have liked it to. Not that it mattered since he was the only one who had bothered to raise it.

"Mr. Lupin." Holt smiled. "I sometimes wonder if you're the only one who pays attention. Go on, then. How many?"

Elizabeth turned in her chair towards him. For split second, he'd almost forgotten the answer. "Um, eight, sir."

"Correct," Holt said as he began walking back towards the front of the room. "Ten points for Hufflepuff. Now, as I was saying—"

Elizabeth was still staring at him. He noticed that her eyes were even prettier straight on than they were in profile. She gave him an appreciative smile before turning back around in her chair towards the front of the room. Something in his chest leapt. He suddenly wished he could do something else that would make her smile like that again.

He'd never paid much attention to girls before, at least not like this, but after that day in fourth-year Potions, he didn't do much else when it came to Elizabeth. That didn't even include the mad dash he would make to class in order to get the seat behind her, or the fact that he found simply staring at the back of her head worth the time of day. He knew it was probably a little pathetic, but she was the first girl who'd even had that sort of effect on him. One should never underestimate the hormonally driven desires of a fourteen-year-old boy. Ted had figured there was something different about Elizabeth, but as it turned out, he wasn't the only one who felt that way. It didn't take him long to realize that fancying Elizabeth Cole was essentially like breathing. Everyone else did it, as well.

On top of being pretty, she was actually fairly clever and very sweet. She was one of those people that you couldn't dislike no matter how hard you tried—not that Ted ever tried. In fact, he didn't try much of anything except to occasionally smile if she happened to be turned around in her chair or staring in his direction. Talking to her seemed like a foreign concept. She was just one of those girls that you admired from afar; the kind you may talk about school or class with sometimes, but you don't actually_ talk_ to her. At least, that's what he had convinced himself.

He didn't tell anyone about his crush on Elizabeth. Partly, because he was embarrassed, but mostly because he didn't think it was anyone else's business. The last thing he needed were his friends teasing him about it and thus discouraging him. It was much easier to enjoy his new crush in secret. He was already perfectly aware that girls like Elizabeth didn't generally fall for guys like him. Why would they when they had their pick of anyone in the school?

On top of everything, none of this stopped him from teasing Victoire about the exact same thing. He did to her, what he was afraid she would to do him if she found out about his crush on Elizabeth. It was all one big attempt to hide his own insecurities, but it was also a lot different with Victoire. She didn't really fancy any of these people he teased her for and she didn't even believe that any of them were interested anyway. As far as Ted could tell, she really was happily oblivious to her new found popularity among people…

That was until her third year.

It was during her third year that Victoire began spending a lot of time with a new group of girls. Among them, Colleen Lynch—a Gryffindor like Victoire, who happened to be year behind Ted in school. She was a snobby elitist who seemed to be the leader of a group of similarly minded girls; all thriving on the belief that they were better than everyone else. Whether they intimidated people into respecting them or whether people were fascinated by the way they controlled everything around them, Ted never knew. He just knew she was a bitch.

He'd had his fair share of run-ins with Colleen and her friends over the years. His unconventional appearance never quite sat well them, and he was never quite cool enough for their liking. Colleen, in particular, enjoyed pointing out—whenever Ted was within earshot—how ridiculous she thought he looked with his "goofy hair." When they weren't commenting on him, they were busy teasing Simon for being pudgy, or teasing another girl for her glasses, another boy for his lazy eye, another for being poor, being ugly, being stupid…Their reasons were endless, and all as superficial as the last. It appeared to be just one giant game to them. Ted had learned that the easiest way of dealing with them was simply to ignore them. As long as he didn't acknowledge them, they would get bored and move onto someone who would. By fifth year, they seemed to have almost moved on from him entirely…Until Victoire went and decided to be their friend.

"They're nice," Victoire told him after he'd confronted her about Colleen and her looking far too friendly earlier that day.

"They're not nice," he spat. "They're horrible, horrible people."

She rolled her eyes. "They've been nothing but sweet to me, Teddy."

"Vic, they randomly pick on anyone just because they're bored. I mean, they think it's funny to call Simon fat, and they think it's absolutely hilarious to call me a freak."

"I won't let them."

"Like you can stop them," he mumbled. "You're better off just staying away from them."

"I think I'm able to make my own choices in friends," she said. "I'm a big girl."

Ted bit his tongue. He wasn't about to tell her how being barely thirteen still made her a child in most people's eyes. Given the poor choices she was making at the moment, she was proving that point well enough herself.

"I'm not worried about it." She shrugged. "I'm not stupid."

"I know you're not," he said. "That's why I want to you realize what you're getting yourself into and get out while you can."

She laughed. "You act as if I'm joining a cult."

"That's one way of putting it."

"Ted," she smiled, "I'll be fine." She shook her head in disbelief before taking to the stairs towards Gryffindor Tower. "I'll see you later."

He watched her go. She just didn't get it. She didn't understand what just being associated with those girls was going to mean for her reputation. Sure, she was bound to become even more popular now and soon she wouldn't be able to deny the attention she was going to get, but she was also going to have to deal with a whole lot more. The number of people who did _not_ like Colleen out numbed the ones that actually did.

* * *

Of course, just as Ted had suspected, within the next few weeks Victoire's popularity began to skyrocket. Before she had been well-known, but now it was official. She was everywhere.

He couldn't help but feel a little slighted by it all, even though he felt as if he had little reason to be. After all, Victoire was making the effort to keep things between the two of them the same as they'd always been. She still showed up for their Tuesday and Thursday study sessions in the library and she never pretended not to know him in the halls or at meal times. No matter how much Colleen would try to get her to ignore him…Which was all the time.

"Come on," Colleen said one afternoon after Victoire had stopped in the corridors to talk with Ted. "There are far more interesting people you could be talking to."

"Then go talk to them," Victoire said. "No one's asking you to stick around."

Ted made no attempt to hide his laughter. Colleen scowled at him before focusing back on Victoire. "One of these days you'll realize…" she said, before abruptly turning away. She seemed as though she could no longer be bothered by either of them. Victoire gave her a small wave goodbye.

"Ohhh, she's going to get you…" Ted taunted.

"Let her," she mumbled. "I hate when she makes fun of people."

"Yet, you're friends with her?"

"Stop it," she said heavily. "You always have to make a comment."

"You know I don't like them," he said, just as a tall girl with curly, blonde hair suddenly grabbed Victoire by the arm.

"I have news you _have_ to hear," she said, casting Ted a throwaway look. She tugged at Victoire's arm. "You won't believe it. Come on."

"What is it?" Victoire asked as she followed after her. She threw Ted a quick wave goodbye before continuing down the corridor.

"Well, bye to you, too," he said to no one, throwing his hands up in annoyance as he said it.

He'd gotten used to abrupt ends to conversations like that, but it still aggravated him. As close as he and Victoire still tried to be, things were definitely changing. He supposed it was bound to happen. It was probably all part of growing up, but still…He wished Victoire didn't have to do it so damn obviously. He got that she was important and admired. The point didn't continuously need to be driven home to him.

Of course, it wasn't just she who was changing. He had been changing too, though his changes were mostly physical. By Ted's sixteenth birthday, he'd grown a good five inches since he'd turned fifteen, putting him at just over six feet. He was also hopelessly skinny, which gave the overall effect of him to look as though someone had stretched him to his limits on a rack. He hated being this lanky, though, every time he made mention of it to Simon, he would always tell Ted to shut up and be thankful that he wasn't round and stout like he was.

"Girls don't like chubby," Simon said. "Tall and skinny they like."

"Yeah, but they also like muscles and all of that other shit," Ted said as he started examining his scrawny bicep. "I look like someone could break me with one good punch. It's pathetic."

"So, give yourself muscles. You have the ability."

"You know it's too much work," he mumbled. "And plus, it'd look rather stupid to suddenly show up to class tomorrow looking like a different person."

"I still say you're better off," Simon said before abruptly changing the subject to something he much preferred talking about. In this case, that meant all of the girls in school that he wanted to snog and do various other things to; his new favorite topic of conversation.

Simon had ended up hitting puberty hard. He'd become quite girl obsessed—just as most of Ted's other classmates were— and it was beginning to seem as though fifth year had brought out an entire flock of hormonal teenage boys. All of them would continuously sit around and talk about sex as though they knew everything about it, but in all actuality, it was apparent that none of them had the fondest clue. It still didn't stop any of them from talking about it at great length, though—or more specifically, about how much they wanted to have it.

Ted was as guilty as the rest of them when it came to thoughts on the opposite sex, but he simply chose not to be _as_ vocal as some of his friends were. While he had discovered a whole new appreciation towards any and all girls, he still found Elizabeth to be most desirable of the bunch. He'd convinced himself that she was only getting prettier as time went on, but he wasn't sure if that was because she actually was, or if he was just imagining it all. Either way, his dreams had become far more entertaining when she was in them.

Even after a year of feeling this way, he still hadn't bothered to mention to anyone about how he felt about her. Whenever Elizabeth's name came up around his friends—as they tossed around the names of girls that they would shag given the chance—he would simply agree with the majority and say he would, claim she was hot, and say nothing more. He found it fairly easy to disguise his true feelings for her when everyone else seemed to share the same fantasies. It was almost too easy to keep it a secret.

Unfortunately, everything had to change once the end of Ted's fifth year approached. He'd learned this on a day when he'd been lying lazily on the grounds of Hogwarts. Trying to clear his mind of distractions, he was attempting to ignore the fact his O.W.L.s were approaching in less than a month. He knew he should probably have been inside the library reading over his notes, but he needed the break. A break from the studying and from his ridiculously high strung classmates. He needed peace. He needed—

He was cut off mid-thought by the sound of someone dropping an object beside him. He opened his eyes and squinted, noticing that the object was a school bag. A school bag that belonged to Victoire, who was now standing over him and looking annoyed.

"How do you always find me?" he asked as he put his hand above his eyes to shield the sun.

She glanced around the vacant, wide open area. The nearest trees were over twenty yards away. "Were you hiding?"

"Not really hiding," he said as he closed his eyes again, "but I wasn't looking to be found either."

"You should try harder next time," she said, taking the spot next to him "Why aren't you looking to be found?"

"Just felt like being alone," he said without opening his eyes.

"Am I bothering you?

"Yes." He cracked a small smile. He wasn't actually bothered by her presence, but he wasn't going to let her know that.

"Well, sorry, Teddy, but I need to talk to someone."

"About what?" he asked. He opened his eyes and squinted at her again.

"My life is over."

He rolled his eyes before closing them once more. Ever since she'd started hanging out with those girls, she'd learned and uttered the phrase "my life is over" even at the most insignificant of events. She'd probably broken a shoe lace.

"You're only fourteen," he mumbled.

"So?"

He sighed and lifted himself up onto his elbows. "Okay, let's hear it. Why is it over _this_ time?"

Her face seemed to say that she didn't appreciate him patronizing her, but she chose to ignore it and push forward. "Colleen's just told me some awful news."

"Oh, this should be good."

"You know Stuart Reynolds?"

"I know _of_ him," he said, trying to place his face in his mind. He was a pretty-boy Quidditch player that a lot of the girls tended to fancy and swoon about. He was _that_ type.

"He's a fourth-year. He's in Ravenclaw. He's really cute."

"Oh yeah, he's dreamy," Ted said sarcastically as he lay flat back down on the ground. "What about him?"

"You know Elizabeth Cole?" she continued. "She's in your year."

He opened his eyes, but he didn't look at her. "Yeah, I know her."

"They're going out!" she said as if it really was the end of world. "I've fancied him for ages and—"

But Ted had already turned her out. It was the first time in his life that he could remember feeling as though someone kicked him in the chest simply by saying somethng. Truth be told, he wasn't even really sure why. It wasn't as if he and Elizabeth ever talked more than a few times in Potions, or that it would even amount to anything anyway.

"Do you think she's pretty?" Victoire asked suddenly.

"Who?"

"Elizabeth, obviously."

He nodded.

Victoire groaned. "I don't stand a chance against someone like her," she muttered. "Plus, she's older and in his house. This is horrible."

"It may not last," he suggested, even though he wasn't sure why he was even bothering to say it. Why should he care if they lasted or not?

"Right," she said, rolling her eyes. "Those two are perfect for each other. This is soooo horrible."

Though Ted didn't know if he agreed with that statement, it didn't take long for Victoire's sentiments to be echoed around the school for everyone else to share. Due to the sheer amount of people who seemed to think that Stuart and Elizabeth were a perfect couple, Ted couldn't help but feel as though it was about time to give up on his hopeless little fantasy that included Elizabeth Cole. Girls like her go for pretty-boys like Stuart Reynolds. That's just how it was. It was better learned now than before he did something stupid one day.

It wasn't as though Ted had had anyone to fall back on after Elizabeth. Instead, he just decided to convince himself that there were more important things to worry about other than girls. Victoire and her friends may have wanted to believe that the sun rose and set on who was currently dating who, but he could rarely be bothered. School was more interesting anyway—or so he told himself.

He especially told himself this once his sixth year rolled around and Victoire, as a fourth-year, started having more of a social life than he'd ever come close to having. Not that he was really bitter, but once she started dating—a boy in his own year called Malcolm Abernathy—he couldn't help but feel but feel a little put-off. After all, she was two years younger than he was and she was already dating, whereas he'd barely entertained the idea before.

Not to mention that she'd chosen Malcolm Abernathy of all people. Ted had assumed it was only a matter of time before one of those dumb idiots who obnoxiously flirted with her would actually ask her out—or maybe they had been asking her and Malcolm was the first one who gotten a yes from her, Ted wasn't sure which. It was honestly hard to tell because Ted had started to make a point of staying out of Victoire's business when it came to boys and dating. It was a topic he had no desire to discuss if he could help it.

Still, when it came down to it, no matter how popular Victoire was or how much she and he both seemed to be growing, Victoire always made a point of letting Ted know that he was still her best friend. While the little things tended to grate on him, he really did appreciate being the one she would still seek out when things were really bothering her; when she was homesick or worried about school, or even when—for whatever reason—her life was over.

It was true that Victoire may have gotten caught up in the thrill of new things, and that she and Ted may have gone a few weeks without talking everyday, but they always came around. That was the kind of friendship they had. When it came down to it, they were both changing, but it was easy to say that nothing ever really changed between them.

Well, not yet…


	5. Breakups and Fresh Starts

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews, guys! :) You're all awesome, but I'm sure you know that already. ANYWAY! After all those pages of backstory (phew!), time to start getting to the meat of the story! :) Hooray!

* * *

Halfway through Ted's sixth year, Victoire's life was once again over—which by Ted's count meant it had been over nine times thus far—and she had sought out his and Simon's company one evening in the library. For once though, Ted actually felt as though she had a legitimate reason to be upset. Malcolm and she had split up earlier that morning, and she had apparently spent a fair amount of the day in tears over the end of her first relationship.

Ted was secretly happy to hear the news. Ever since she and Malcolm had started dating, Ted had thought that the two were an odd sort of pair. He knew Victoire could do loads better than that guy, but he wasn't going to tell her that at the moment. As she sat red eyed and puffy faced across from him while he tried to do his Charms work, he knew that the less he brought up the subject, the better. Though, that didn't stop her.

"I wish I'd never even talked to him," she said for the third time since she'd sat down.

Ted forced a sympathetic grin. A part of him wanted to tell her that she'd already said that, but he didn't want to chance the possibility of her starting to cry again. It was strange, but ever since they were kids, he had always felt a strange sense of guilt whenever Victoire cried. Even when he knew he had nothing to do with it. On top of that, he never knew what to do around crying girls. Was he supposed to hug them? Pat them on the back and tell them things would be okay? Tell them to suck it up? He wasn't sure. So, as a rule of thumb, he generally tried to avoid them at all costs.

"He's an idiot," Simon said from beside Ted. "You're better off."

Ted nodded. Simon was better with this sort of thing. He had three older sisters and was used to his fair share of emotional girls. He knew the right thing to say.

"Do you think?" she asked through a sniffle.

Simon nodded. "Absolutely." Ted nodded too.

She smiled. "Thanks, Simon."

"Well, you should already know I think you're better off." He grinned. "I think you're the prettiest girl in school."

Victoire smiled and glanced at Ted, who was already halfway through rolling his eyes. Simon's crush on Victoire was still as strong as it had been since the day they had met on the train, and it didn't show any signs of slowing down. He still continuously took any opportunity to compliment her; having even doubled up his efforts after accidentally breaking her foot earlier in the year due to a chivalrous—albeit stupid—attempt to help her carry a large cauldron down to the dungeons.

Simon was always good-natured about it all, though. Even when he knew Victoire didn't feel the same way about him. Ted never had to sit there and tell him that perhaps he should move on for his own good; instead he saw that Simon simply enjoyed having Victoire pay attention to him. He never expected much in return, but that never seemed to bother him. Plus, Victoire always seemed genuinely flattered by his comments, which made his day. It seemed as if she was his own version of Elizabeth Cole...except, at least Simon had a relationship with Victoire. That was more than Ted could say about Elizabeth and himself.

As nice as it was that the pair of them had managed to work out a middle ground sort of friendship, it still didn't make Ted feel any less unnerved by Simon's blatant attempts at wooing her. While Simon had no shame in telling a girl how pretty he thought they looked, or how amazing he thought they were, Ted found himself terrified at the idea of talking to a girl like that. Simon did it so easily, and that only made Ted more nervous. He wasn't sure he'd ever find it in him to be that comfortable around girls, no matter how many times Simon told him, "What do you have to lose?" It was the very same sentiment that Victoire, too, had recently begun echoing.

"Well, what _do_ you have to lose?" she had asked him a month earlier. "You know, if you weren't so guarded all the time…"

Ted rolled his eyes. She'd had all of one relationship and she was now some sort of expert?

"You're not bad looking," she added. "You can even be sort of cute when you want to be."

"When I want to be?" he asked. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"When you open up," she said. "I mean, I know how you can be, but if you're constantly shutting down around girls, they'll never know. If you talk to them, Teddy, they'll talk back. Then lots of good things will come from it."

That was easy for her to say, but as Ted now sat in the library—watching her currently pour her broken heart out over of his Charm homework—he couldn't help but wonder if she'd say the same thing again. It really didn't seem like it was worth the hassle.

"You're being awfully quiet tonight," Victoire said as she watched Ted read over his notes.

"I was just letting you talk," he said with a shrug. "You know, get all your feelings out."

"You never liked Malcolm did you?"

He stared at her. He was once again confused as to what he was supposed to stay here. Did he tell her the truth? That yes, he never liked Malcolm and that he thought Malcolm was a dumb prat? Or did he lie and claim that he was okay, so as to not insult her for ever having had anything to do with him in the first place?

"He didn't," said Simon, answering for him. "None of us did, Vicki. You two only dated for a couple months though, so it's no harm, no foul."

"Yeah," Ted quickly agreed. How in the hell did Simon come up with things like that to say so fast?

She smiled and nodded before taking a deep breath and pulling out her own homework. "You're right, Simon."

"I know." He smiled. "Anyway, don't forget that all of these guys are just fillers until you and I get married."

"Okay, now that's just corny," Ted muttered.

Victoire laughed as Simon mumbled, "Shut up." He looked as if he was going to add something more, but stopped when Maggie Connors, a Hufflepuff girl in their year, suddenly approached the side of their table.

"Hello," she said to everyone.

"Hi, Maggie," Simon said as he put his quill down. "What's going on?"

"Nothing really," she said with a glance at Ted. She smiled at him, but didn't say anything. She just stared at him.

"Did you want something?" Ted asked.

"Um…" She cast a quick glance over her shoulder and then back at Ted. "I have a question, I guess. For you, Ted."

"Okay…" he said reluctantly. He wished she would just get on with it. "What is it?"

She took a deep breath and laughed a little. "Actually, wait, hold on." She turned on her heels and suddenly disappeared into the shelves of books behind her.

Confused, Ted looked at Victoire for a possible explanation. "What was that?"

She shrugged and began busying herself with the schoolwork in front of her. "Dunno."

"Girls are so weird," he mumbled before returning to his homework. He'd managed to write half a sentence down before Maggie reappeared. She was now holding out a piece of folded parchment for him.

"Sorry about that," she said. "Here."

He took it. "What is this?" he asked, but she hadn't answered. She had already turned and sped off through the shelves again, leaving him confused as to why he was holding this piece of parchment in his hand. He glanced at it for a few seconds before dropping it on the table and returning to what he had been doing before.

"Aren't you going to read it?" Simon asked.

"It's not going anywhere," he said. "I'll read it later if I remember." He glanced at Victoire. She was giving him a look that seemed to say she disagreed with his reasoning.

"It'll take you a few seconds to read it," she said with obvious curiosity in her tone.

He sighed over dramatically, but picked up the note and hastily unfolded it anyway. Why was everyone was so damn nosy?

"What's it say?" Victoire asked. She was leaning forward in her chair, trying to see through the back of paper and onto its contents on the other side. Simon, meanwhile, was glancing over Ted's shoulder from his own seat.

Simon laughed. "Ha, look at that…!"

Victoire leaned forward further in her seat. "I can only make out the words Hogsmeade and—"

Ted suddenly snatched the note away for her and folded it back up. His cheeks were now a little pink.

"What did it say?" Victoire asked, glancing from Ted to Simon. "Come on, tell me!"

"Nothing," Ted said quickly as he picked up his quill. "It was nothing."

"It was definitely something," she said. "You're never been a good liar, Teddy."

"It was nothing," he said more adamantly. "It was stupid—"

"Celia Ward fancies him," Simon said with a smile.

"Does she!?" Victoire asked with a sudden smile of her own.

Ted's cheeks pinkened even further. He suddenly wished he'd read that note somewhere a little more private.

"Apparently," Simon continued. "That's what the note says. She thinks he's cute and she's dropping a lot of hints about wanting him to ask her to Hogsmeade next weekend."

"Awwww!" Victoire cooed excitedly. Her tone made Ted wish that he could disappear off the face of the earth. "So, what are you going to do?"

Ted shrugged. "Nothing."

"What do you mean, 'nothing'?"

"I mean, nothing," he said. Celia seemed like a nice girl, but he barely knew her. They'd maybe spoken ten times since being sorted into Hufflepuff together six years ago.

"You have to do something," she said. The look on her face now seemed to say that she'd forgotten all about Malcolm Abernathy. "You two would be sweet together. She's got that whole quiet thing going for her, and she's got dark hair. I know you tend to like girls with dark hair—"

"How do you know that?" he asked, surprised by this observation. It was true, he was partial to darker haired girls, but he'd never once mentioned that to Victoire. He'd never mentioned anything about the girls he tended to liked to her.

She smiled. "Because I know how you are. I see the way you look at certain girls." She laughed. "I know you a lot better than you think I do, Teddy."

He stared at her. He didn't doubt she knew him well, but this sort of ability of figuring him out was downright scary. What else did she know?

"I think you should ask her out," she said matter-of-factly. "You could use a little fun."

"No."

She frowned. "Oh, come on, Teddy, seriously…"

"Vic, stop it," he said, suddenly feeling strangely out of place talking about this. Had he received that note on his own, he would have been confused enough; let alone with Victoire breathing down his neck and telling him what to do.

"Fine," she looked put-off, "I'm probably the last person you should be taking advice from anyway when it comes to these sorts of things." Her face began to twitch a little. Ted realized that everything she had just pushed out of her mind about Malcolm was suddenly rushing back.

"You're not," he said quickly as he glanced over his shoulder. "Look, I just have to think about things. I barely know her." He sighed and glanced at the folded up note that was sitting on top of his Charms work. He felt a mixture of nervousness and excitement as he thought about its contents. "It's just weird, you know?"

She slowly nodded as if she understood. "I know."

"I'm going to go," he said as he stood. He didn't think he could concentrate on Charms now anyway.

"You'll tell me if you decide to..." She gestured towards the note that he was packing away in his bag. "You know?"

"Yeah, I guess. But I wouldn't get too excited."

That night though, as Ted lay in bed staring up at the top of his four poster bed, he figured that he did need to make a choice. He could choose to spend the rest of his days at Hogwarts attempting to shield himself from others who may want to get to know him, or he could embrace it. After all, Celia was nice enough. He thought she was pretty and she seemed like she could be fun from what little he knew about her. There wasn't anything outwardly wrong with her that he could think of, so perhaps he should give it go? He clenched his jaw. No, he _should _give it a go. He should, not perhaps. He made up mind lying there. He was going to do this. He was going to take a chance.

The only problem was, he really had no idea how to do that.

For the first week after he had received Celia's letter, he carried on as if nothing had ever happened. He assumed this was probably the wrong way to go about things, but he really didn't have a clue as to what he should say to her or to any of her friends when he found them watching him expectantly in the halls—or at meals, or in the common room, or everywhere since it seemed like they just so happened to always be around.

When one of Celia's friends finally did confront him about everything, his only response had been to stare at her blankly before mumbling something about, "thinking things over." He then walked away as fast as he could. The way things were going, Celia was bound to write him off as mental by the time he actually got the balls to do anything. As it were, he was desperate for some guidance. And as he soon realized, desperate times call for desperate measures…

"Ted," Victoire said with a surprised smile once she noticed him standing outside of her Transfiguration class one afternoon. "What are you doing here?"

"I need to talk to you."

"Okay," she said as he led her a few steps away. "What's up?"

He sighed. He was unsure of how to even get the words out. This was awkward. She was probably going to laugh, but he didn't really know who else to ask. Plus, out of all the people he knew, he figured she'd laugh the least.

"I want to ask Celia out…"

She smiled.

"I just don't know how."

"How to ask a question?" she teased.

He turned to walk away. "I shouldn't have said anything."

"No, no, no, Teddy," she reached out and grabbed him by the arm, pulling him back. "I was kidding. I'm sorry." She smiled. "I think it's really sweet you're nervous."

"Really? Because I think it's pathetic."

"No, it's not," she said, still grinning.

"Please stop smiling."

"Sorry," she said as she struggled to force the smile off her face. "Um, so okay, well, you should just do it."

"That's your advice?" he asked. "Jeez, Vic, I knew that much. I was hoping for a pep talk of sorts."

"You know she's going to say yes. How much more of a pep talk do you need?"

He sighed and rubbed his eyes wearily. He rarely ever let his guard down or let himself be this vulnerable. It was a crappy feeling.

"Ted, she's the lucky one," she encouraged, "and I mean that. She's going to say yes."

He stared at her before laughing a little. "Yeah?" Whether she meant what she said or whether she just knew it was what you're supposed to say in these sorts of situations, Ted didn't care. It was nice to actually hear.

She nodded. "Yes! Now go and do it. And don't come talk to me until you have."

He laughed. "Well, if that's the incentive, then perhaps I'll never ask her out."

"Says the boy who came to _me_ for a pep talk," she said with a smirk.

So, later that day—after making a small plan of attack—Ted decided to simply bite his lip and go for it. He found himself in the common room that night biding his time, occasionally casting quick glances in Celia's direction. He took a deep breath. He had to go and get it over with already. All he had to do was ask her to talk. That's it. Absolutely no pressure.

"Worst that happens is that she says no," Simon said. He was pretended not to be observing Ted attempts to pump himself up. "And she's not going to say that."

Ted stood up. Simon gave him a quick grin before he turned away and focused entirely on Celia. She was sitting across the room with Maggie Connors, laughing about something. He suddenly wished Maggie had somewhere else to be considering that this would be a lot easier if Celia was sitting by herself.

"Hi," Ted mumbled as he approached the pair of them. They both looked up, but their reactions were quite different. Maggie began grinning like an idiot, whereas Celia looked almost startled. Neither of them said anything.

He looked away. "Can I talk to you?"

"To her?" Maggie asked, pointing at Celia.

"Um, yeah," he said, feeling a little dumb for not having specified. "It'll just take a second."

Maggie giggled, but Celia stood and awkwardly smiled. She suddenly looked nervous as Ted walked her as far away as he could from the sound of Maggie's giggling. _No turning back now_, he told himself. She was staring at him.

"I got your note."

She looked at the floor. "I'd wondered if you were going to…" She hesitated. "I thought you had just ignored it."

"Yeah. Sorry. I took forever to get back to you."

They stared at each other. He wanted her to say something, but he supposed there was no reason she really should have. He was the one who asked her over here.

"I don't know if maybe you'd want to hang out this weekend down in Hogsmeade, but—"

Her eyes lit up a little. No one else would have even noticed, but he was desperately searching for signs in her face for some sort of validation. He took that as a signal. That was all he really needed.

"I was hoping," he continued, smiling a little, "maybe you would."

"Okay," she said with a quick nod of her head. "Yeah, that'd be fun."

"Yeah?" he asked, suddenly feeling a thousand times less anxious than minutes earlier.

"Yes." She smiled.

It certainly wasn't one of his most graceful moments, but she said had said yes, and in turn they made plans to go to Hogsmeade together later that week. Ted had assumed the hardest part was now over, but as the day of the Hogsmeade trip quickly approached, he soon realized things were only bound to get more difficult. He had the date, but now he had to worry about everything that came after that—or "making all the right moves" as Simon called it.

"You'll just know," Simon said as he and Ted stood outside the castle watching everyone pour out of the front doors towards Hogsmeade. "Be smooth."

"What the hell is smooth exactly?" Ted asked as he adjusted his scarf around his neck.

"You know, grabbing her hand at the right times, putting your arm around her shoulder. All the normal stuff that helps lead up to some snogging. Maybe even more."

"Maybe even more," Ted repeated. He found himself getting a little excited by the prospect. "Yeah, okay."

"Hey!" said Victoire as she suddenly appeared from the crowd and playfully nudged him. "All prepared for your big date, then?"

He shrugged. "I guess."

"Where is she?" she asked as she looked around.

"I told her I'd meet her out here," Ted said.

She smiled. "I expect a full report. Leave no detail unsaid!"

He rolled his eyes, but smiled none the less.

Victoire smiled at Simon. "They grow up so fast."

He smiled back. "Don't they?"

"Have I mentioned that I hate you both?" Ted joked, just as Colleen Lynch's shrill voice suddenly called for Victoire to hurry up.

"I'll be right there," she yelled back, but the group of girls was already starting to walk away towards town. Victoire turned back to Ted. "Have fun and, oh! If I can give you any advice, don't ask to kiss her."

"What?"

"Don't ask," she repeated. "Just do it. Be spontaneous and find the moment and just do it. It's far more romantic that way. Just don't ask if you can. It kills the whole moment."

"Right," he said in a disinterested manner, even though he made a mental note to make sure to not ask if the moment did arise.

She reached up and grabbed both ends of Ted's scarf, tugging them affectionately. "And you look quite handsome, too. A good sign—"

Simon suddenly smacked Ted in the arm and nodded for him to look behind him. He turned and saw Celia standing there. He wasn't sure how long she'd been there, but she smiled awkwardly at both him and Simon before finally turning towards Victoire, who had yet to let go of his scarf.

"Oh," Victoire said before quickly letting go and taking a step back.

"Sorry, it took me a little bit to get out of the castle," Celia said.

"It's okay," Ted said as they both stared at each other expectantly.

Celia took a moment to reach into her bag, which prompted Victoire to nudge Ted. She mouthed, "Say something nice."

"You look great," he said promptly.

Celia looked up and smiled. "Thank you."

"We should go," Simon said to Victoire.

"Yeah, I need to catch up with my friends," she said, giving Ted one last reassuring look. "Have fun, Teddy."

"Be good, you two," Simon teased as both he and Victoire turned and followed the rest of the crowd down the path towards town.

Celia and Ted both smiled at each other and began slowly making their way down the path. Neither of them said a word for a minute or so, until Celia finally asked, "Teddy, huh?"

"Sorry?" he asked.

"What she called you. She called you Teddy."

"Oh, yeah," he said with an awkward laugh. "It's a childhood nickname. Not too many people call me that anymore."

"I can't imagine why." She smiled. "So, you and Victoire Weasley go way back, then?"

"Ages. I've known her since she was born."

"Really? Wow. You must be the envy of a lot of guys."

"Why would you think that?"

"Since half the school is practically in love with her."

He laughed again. "Yeah, no, I don't even get it. We've been friends for so long that I don't think I could even if I tried."

"Oh," she said. "It's just a little funny since you two seem so different. She's got the whole pretty, popular, dim thing going on—"

"She's not dim," he said quickly.

She seemed embarrassed. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that. I barely even know her, I just," she sighed, "I'm really not a fan of Colleen Lynch and since I know they're close friends, I just can't understand why anyone would ever willing hang around her. I mean, and honestly no offense to your friend, but I've always thought something had to be wrong with a person to subject themselves to her."

Ted smiled at her. As much as he cared about Victoire, he couldn't help but fully agree with that.

"You probably think I'm terrible for insulting one of your oldest friends five seconds into our date," she said in a nervous manner. "I really am sorry. I'm just nervous."

Hearing her say she was nervous made Ted feel a little relieved. It was good to know he wasn't the only one whose palms were probably a little too sweaty and who was probably over thinking everything he wanted to say before he said it. "Well, I'm nervous too. And I don't think you're terrible."

She smiled. As she did, Ted couldn't help but realize how pretty her smile was. It was then that something came over him—a weird sense of courage that compelled him to reach out and grab her hand. Once she grabbed it back, he couldn't help but think of how easy that had been. Perhaps relationships and girls were easier than he thought after all.


	6. Noise in the Library

"And…?" Victoire had asked, following Ted after breakfast the day after the Hogsmeade trip. She had just caught him on his way back to the Hufflepuff common room

"And what?" he asked with a grin. He was thoroughly enjoying her inquiries.

"And what happened on your date, you dolt? I swear, Teddy, if you disappear into your common room and not tell me, I will hex you the next time I see you. Don't think I won't."

He smirked. "I don't kiss and tell."

Her jaw dropped. "You can't kiss and anything if there wasn't any kissing involved to begin with! Which means there was!"

"I'm full of surprises," he said as he finally stopped and faced her. He might as well humor her if she really wanted to know so badly.

"How'd you do it? You didn't ask did you?"

"No…" He gave her a look that asked to give him some credit. "We were walking and we were talking and having a really good time. It just happened. She was the one who actually leaned in to do it. I just went with it. That's it."

She beamed.

"Please stop smiling."

She laughed. "No way. My love life is lame. I'm living vicariously through yours."

"Vicariously," he said as with a thoughtful nod. "Good word."

She swatted him. "Don't change the subject," she said. "So, what else happened?"

He leaned up against the nearby wall and smiled at her. "You're so nosy."

"I told you I wanted a full report," she said. "You really should have seen this coming."

"This is true," he said. "You not prying for every detail would have been the real surprise."

"Exactly," she said with a nod. "And I'd hate to disappoint."

"How about I just take a picture next time so you can dissect it?" he joked. "Or better yet, just bring you along to supervise. You can take notes."

She pretend to consider this. "That would make this entire process muuuuuch easier," she said with a straight face.

Watching her face made Ted start to laugh, which in turn made Victoire laugh. The laughter seemed randomly contagious as they both soon found themselves cracking up. Neither seemed exactly sure of what had been so funny, but they couldn't seem to stop laughing. A group of people on their way back from breakfast stared at them curiously; including Celia, who approached the pair of them hesitantly given that they were both still laughing.

"Hey," Ted said pleasantly upon noticing her. He was still trying work the laughter out of his system.

"Hi," she said with a small smile before glancing at Victoire. "Did I miss something funny?"

"Oh," he shrugged, "it's was nothing."

"Just Ted and his terrible jokes," Victoire said to her. "I'm sure you'll hear enough of them." She smiled politely. "We've never met properly. I'm Victoire."

"I know," Celia said, her tone almost anxious.

Victoire stared at her for an extra second, as if expecting her to reciprocate the introduction or add something more, but she didn't. She just continued to stare at her.

"So…" Victoire said, trying to push the conversation along. "You two are together, I take it?"

Celia glanced at Ted, who shrugged and smiled. "I'd say so," he said. "Unless there's a paper I have to sign or something confirming it."

Celia laughed, but Victoire just smiled and just rolled her eyes. "There are those bad jokes I was telling you about."

"I thought it was funny," Celia said. She took a step towards Ted.

Victoire stared at her and forced another polite smile. She suddenly turned and cast a quick look down the corridor. "Well, all right. I should probably go."

"See you later, Vic," Ted said as he turned towards the Hufflepuff common room.

"Bye Teddy," she said before once more smiling politely at Celia. "Bye Celia."

Ted glanced at Celia, who was still watching Victoire walk away. When she did turn to him, he smiled. "So, what do you want do?" he asked.

"Oh, whatever," she said, her tone instantly a little brighter. "Anything but homework."

"Fair enough," he said. "It is a weekend."

"You know," she said as they started walking towards their common room. "Can I tell you something?"

"Shoot."

"I'm really not a fan of the name Teddy."

He laughed. "I haven't really been a fan since I was ten, but," he gestured down the corridor to where Victoire had gone, "some people just can't seem to shake it. It doesn't really bother me."

"I just wish there was another nickname," she said thoughtfully. "I mean, Ted's a great name, but something a little more personal, you know?"

"So, come up with one," he suggested before adding, "I get final approval on all names, though."

She laughed. "Okay. Well, what's your middle name?"

"Remus."

"Remus?" she said with interested expression. "That's a great name."

"It was my dad's name."

"Oh," she straightened up a little, "was…"

"He died when I was really small. He and my mum."

"I'd heard that somewhere."

"Yeah, I know, people talk," he said as they reached the entrance to the Hufflepuff common room.

"My mum also died when I was little," she said quietly.

"Oh," he said flatly. He suddenly had the urge to change the subject for both of their sakes. "Well, hey, while were at it. You know how everyone's always wondering if Harry Potter really is my godfather? That's true, too. I hear that rumor floating around from time to time and people claiming I made it up, so I might as well make sure you get the real story."

She smiled. "Well, we've got all afternoon to get to know each other better, and I want to hear to everything you've got to tell."

"Really?"

She nodded and looked up as they reached the large portrait that blocked the entrance to their common room. "But first," she grinned, "I have to finish my quest of giving you a nickname."

"It's a quest now?"

"I think so." She smiled again. "I'll figure something out."

It was from that day forward that Ted found himself completely enamored with his new relationship situation. Simon would frequently use the phrase "punch-drunk" and "honeymoon stage," before making fun of Ted for the way he was acting. He couldn't help it, though. It was all so new and exciting, and everything about it created a new sense of happy light-heartedness in him that he was enjoying.

Then there was the fact of how great he thought Celia was. She listened like no other person he'd ever met, and she made it seem as though he was always incredibly interesting. She had a way of making him feel like everything he said was thought provoking, even when he knew it wasn't. She also managed to make him seem smarter than he actually was, not to mention more confident. Confidence was the change he liked most about himself. He had begun trying to stop second guessing himself all the time, as well as attempt to take few more risks. All in all, it was a nice change from the usual humdrum of things that he had become accustomed to.

Of course, with all the time he was spending with Celia, he found himself neglecting some of his other friendships a little. Not on purpose per se, but he figured that this was how it was sometimes when people started new things. And it wasn't as if Ted wasn't making the effort. Simon was easy to touch base with given that they slept in the same room, shared most of the same classes, and was often included in any of the more social activities that Celia and Ted did. Victoire, however, was harder...

At first, she seemed to completely understand his new situation. Not that Ted thought she had any real room to judge considering that she, too, had gotten swept up in the madness of a relationship once before. Plus, before that, she had been pretty hung up on those new friends of hers when all of that had happened. Ted figured he had twice taken a step back for her during similar situations, so it only made sense that it was now her turn to return the favor. He knew things would work themselves out eventually, so he didn't dwell on the matter much.

"Things are good with Celia, then?" Victoire had asked him one day as they walked to lunch together.

"Great." He smiled. "We've been together for a month and things are just getting better."

She nodded, but said nothing. She looked as if she was holding something back.

He stopped walking. "What?"

"What?"

"Something's on your mind."

"No, there isn't," she said in a tone that wasn't entirely convincing.

"No, tell me." He was all too aware that he just had to push her a little before she'd cave. Victoire was never one to not speak her mind when she truly had a reason to.

"It's just," she began slowly, "Celia's a bit cold. At least, to me—"

He laughed. "She's what?"

"You haven't noticed how she's always really short with me?" she asked. "I just get this weird feeling that she doesn't like me much."

"You're crazy," he said, shaking his head in disbelief. "Why wouldn't she like you?"

"You tell me."

"There's nothing to tell. She's never said anything to make me think she doesn't like you."

"Do you really think she'd tell you?"

"She's just shy, Vic," he said once they entered the Great Hall. "You're used to people with these big personalities and Cee's just really reserved. It doesn't mean she doesn't like you."

She seemed to consider this. "Maybe you're right."

"I know I am," he said as he stopped at the Hufflepuff table. "Trust me."

She didn't look convinced, but she nodded regardless. "Hey, you should come by the library tonight. It's been ages."

"Yeah, Celia prefers studying in the common room."

She looked as if she wanted to make a face, but resisted. "I forgot you two are connected at the hip. Can't do something without the other."

"Vic…"

"I'm kidding, Ted," she said as she took a few steps towards the Gryffindor table. She didn't sound like she was kidding.

He sighed. "Tell you what. I'll come by the library tonight."

She laughed and continued walking. "I'll believe that when I see it."

"Then believe it!" he called after her.

He had every intention of proving her wrong and making her see that he was still perfectly capable of making a decision on his own. He also wanted to prove to her that she was completely mistaken about his girlfriend not liking her. He knew that if he could just get the two of them to really sit down together, they'd get along. He was sure of it.

Later that night, Ted had managed to convince both Celia and Simon to come down to the library with him. Simon had been easy, since he generally preferred the library over the common room as it was, but it was Celia who didn't seem very eager. For whatever reason, she never had any interest in studying outside of the common room. She claimed she preferred its homey nature compared to the coldness of the library.

"The library is always so busy," Celia said as they entered the library.

"It's not so bad," Simon said. "I always feel like I get more work done here. There are less distractions."

She sighed and glanced around the room, as if looking for something in particular. Ted assumed she was looking for an empty table and did the same. The entire front room was packed full of people.

"There's no room," she said. "Maybe we should…"

"Let's check the back," Ted suggested as he began making his way towards the small room in the back where more tables were located. "There's always something back there."

Celia seemed doubtful of this, but sure enough, the moment they entered the back room, several vacant tables met them. Ted dropped his bag down on the first one he came across and grinned triumphantly at Celia, who returned the smile begrudgingly. She seemed distracted by something across the room.

"Look who it is," Simon said, pointing in the direction that Celia was now looking. Ted followed her gaze and smiled when he saw Victoire sitting with some of her friends. She hadn't noticed them, but he continued to stare her in the hopes that he could somehow silently will her to look in his direction. Had she been sitting with anyone else, he would have easily approached her, but as it were, he generally preferred to keep his distance from those bitchy friends of hers.

"Hey Vicki," Simon said in a loud whisper, causing her and several others to look up. She quickly smiled at him and Ted, though her smile noticeably faltered when her eyes fell to Celia. Ted chose to ignore this, and instead pointed to the vacant seat at their table in a silent attempt to ask her to join them.

She hesitated, her eyes shooting quickly between Celia and Ted before she finally shook her head apologetically. She pointed to her friends and shrugged as if there was nothing she could do. Ted shrugged to say he understood.

"Shall we do Charms?" Celia asked loud enough for Ted to turn back to her.

"Yeah, sure," he said as he sat. They immediately set to work learning the mechanics of Morphing Charms, as Simon took charge and attempted to lecture them both on the easiest way to memorize them all. Ted had learned over the years that Simon prided himself on his knowledge of Charms, relishing in any opportunity to show off how well he knew the subject.

"And as long as you remember that principle," Simon was saying. "You'll always remember that particular charm."

"Wait, explain that last step one more time," Celia said as she scribbled down what he was saying. "I missed that first part."

Simon cleared his throat and started his mini-lecture once more. Ted took the opportunity to stretch his arms and glance over towards Victoire to see what she was up to. She looked annoyed, and it only took him a second to realize that Penelope Shears was currently asking her something. Ted was pretty sure that he'd never in his life met anyone as dumb as Penelope, so it didn't surprise him to see Victoire getting frustrated while trying to help her. She was probably asking Victoire some asinine question that everyone in the world should already know—and given the expression on Victoire's face at the moment, he had a feeling he was right.

He smiled as he continued to watch her patiently explain something to Penelope. Penelope seemed to be listening, but appeared to be just as clueless as she had been before. He watched as Victoire shook her head in frustration before glancing around the room and catching his eye. She smiled and shook her head again, nodding towards Penelope. She rolled her eyes.

He laughed and threw her a look that asked why she even bothered, which she returned with a look that said she didn't know. She then mimicked pointing her wand to her head and cursing herself dead, which only caused Ted to snort a laugh. Celia suddenly nudged him.

"Huh?" he asked, having been taken by surprise. "What?"

Celia glanced at Victoire before pointing at her book. "Question four."

"Oh," he said as he refocused his thoughts. "Right, question four…"

They continued working, taking a break every so often so Simon and Ted could amuse them all with silly games and stories that made the time go by faster than it actually was. Before they knew it, two hours had passed and they were still only on question fourteen.

"Hi all," Victoire said as she approached their table with her bag slung over her shoulder.

"Leaving?" Ted asked, dropping his quill. He could afford to take yet another break.

She knelt down next to his chair and put her arms on the table to balance herself. "I can only take so much studying with Penelope." She rolled her eyes.

He smiled as Victoire greeted Simon, who had also stopped what he was doing to talk to her. Celia, however, was keeping her eyes glued to her textbook.

"Penelope's going to sit for her O.W.L.s this year and she's maybe on par with a second-year," Victoire continued. "It's a bit sad."

"Perhaps she should start studying more and sleeping around less," Simon suggested. "If she put half as much energy into studying as she did into shagging—"

"She'd be a genius," said Ted and Victoire at the same time. They both looked at each other and laughed at the randomness of having said exact same comment at the same time.

Simon grinned. "Weird. I sometimes think you two share a brain or something."

"Well, great minds do think alike," Victoire said as she threw Ted a quick smile and glanced at the work in front of him. "So, what are you all up to?"

"Just Charms—"

"We're trying to study for Charms," Celia said curtly. "If we stop getting interrupted, we may actually finish."

Victoire blinked and stared blankly at Celia.

Ted glanced between the two of them before throwing Victoire an apologetic shrug. "She's right. We should probably finish."

"Oh, right," Victoire said as she stood up. "Sorry, I didn't mean to—"

"We know you didn't mean to," Celia added in the same curt tone. "It's fine."

"It's really not a big deal," Simon began, just as Colleen appeared next to Victoire and gave the group an unimpressed once over.

"You done here?" she asked Victoire, throwing Ted a particularly amused look.

"Um, yeah," Victoire said, pulling her bag higher up her shoulder. "Let's go."

Colleen smirked. "Nice hair, Lupin. The blue always makes you look just that much less goofy than the other colors."

"Thanks," he said sarcastically.

"Colleen…" Victoire said in a silencing tone. "Don't."

"Hey, Lynch," Ted asked lazily, "don't you have some souls to suck or something?"

"Souls?" Simon mumbled under his breath. "I'm sure she's got plenty of other things she'd rather suck before—"

"Oh, clever, you fat oaf," Colleen spat.

"Colleen, enough," Victoire said as she threw Simon an apologetic look. "Just shut up, would you? Come on, let's go."

"Do you think this he's funny?" Colleen asked Celia, ignoring Victoire altogether. Celia had been smiling at Simon for his comment, but once Colleen turned her attention onto her, her face flushed. She didn't say anything, which only prompted Colleen to roll her eyes. "Of course you would. Freaks stick together, after all."

Ted stood up and glared at her. "Just piss off already."

"Aww," she said, her tone patronizing "How sweet you should stick up for your painfully dull little girlfriend, Lupin. You know, it has to be a bleak day when even _I _think you could do better."

"Just go the fuck away!" he yelled a little louder than he should have.

Colleen smiled a little before glancing at Victoire. Ted looked as well. She was watching the entire display in a slight shock.

"Not going to defend _her_ then, are you, Vicki?" Colleen asked before turning back towards Ted. "Funny how that works out, isn't it? Even one of you closest friends seems to agree with me."

"I never said that," Victoire said as she looked at Ted with wide eyes. "You know that I never…"

Ted didn't want to hear it though. He just wanted Colleen to go, and if that meant Victoire had to leave to, then so be it. He threw both Victoire and Colleen annoyed looks before sitting back down to face Celia. She looked as if she desperately wanted Colleen to disappear.

"Oh, Lupin," Colleen said as she started to walk away towards the exit. "You're no fun when you give up so easily."

A thousand responses ran through Ted's head at that moment, but he ignored each and every one of them and instead focused on Celia, who had tears welling up in her eyes and looked as if she could start bawling at any moment.

"Ted…" Victoire said suddenly, but he didn't turn around. He was too annoyed with her right now for being the reason that Colleen had come over here in the first place. Just as he reached out to lay a comforting hand on Celia's shoulder, he heard the muffled footsteps of someone walking away. When he did turn to look, Victoire had gone.

"I hate Colleen," Celia stammered. "She's the scum of the earth."

Simon shrugged. "Yeah, but you can't take her seriously, Cee. Hell, she's been calling me fat for years now. She really needs to work on new material, especially since I've lost weight."

Ted couldn't help but grin at him before smiling back at Celia. "He's right, you can't take Colleen seriously. That's what she wants." A tear ran down Celia's cheek as Ted stood and gestured towards the exit. "Come on. Let's go back to the common room. I'm beginning to see why you hate the library."

* * *

Victoire apologized to both Ted and Celia for Colleen's behavior, but it didn't seem to change anything between her and Celia as far as their strained relationship was concerned. Celia associated Victoire with Colleen, and that unnerved her. As it were, Ted couldn't exactly blame her for feeling this way. Even he had found it strange that Victoire had been so quick to jump to his and Simon's defense, yet remained completely silent when Colleen had set in on Celia. Whether or not Victoire and Celia were friends, Victoire knew how much he cared about Celia, and as his friend—his best friend—she should have said something. He knew damn well that she wasn't afraid to stand up to Colleen when she really wanted to, but she had let her keep going. She had just stood there.

It soon became fairly clear to him that Victoire didn't like Celia. Her annoyed facial expressions at the mention of her name and the excuses she would make to leave if Celia did happen to come around were becoming more and more apparent. They were also starting to wear on him. She claimed it was because Celia didn't like her and that she made her feel uncomfortable for even talking to him, but he felt that Victoire really wasn't giving Celia a fair shot. Celia had never once said that she didn't like Victoire, only that she didn't like her friends. Regardless, Victoire's behavior forced Ted into a position where he often had to choose between the pair of them. It was a choice that Victoire didn't tend to win.

It wasn't until his relationship had hit the four month point that he really began to realize how little he was running into Victoire at all. He couldn't even remember the last time the two of them had actually sat down and talked for more than five minutes at a time, or spent any real time together. Why did she have to make things so hard on him? He didn't enjoy having to pick between his best friend and his girlfriend, but when one of them was being so ridiculously stubborn about things, he couldn't help it. If Victoire resented him for it, then there was nothing he could do.

"Why not just study here in the common room tonight?" Celia asked Ted as she watched him pack up his bag. "Why study in the library?"

"I just need a change of scenery. You want to come?"

She shook her head. "Maggie, Julia, and I already planned to work on our Divination here."

"I'll see you later then." He leaned in to kiss her. "If you get bored, come down and keep me company."

She smiled. "Maybe. Have fun."

"Oh, yeah, Charms is loads of fun," he joked, throwing his bag over his shoulder. With one last quick smile, he headed out of the common room towards the library. He'd been feeling particularly bad about things with Victoire lately and was secretly hoping that he would run into her down at the library so that they could talk. They used to make it a point to study together on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but it had been months since they'd last done that. He wasn't even sure she still came.

As he entered the library, he turned the corner towards the tables in the back and immediately noticed her blonde head. She was sitting alone, reading through a textbook. He smiled a little as he made his way over towards her. "Hey, stranger."

She looked up with a start, seemingly startled by his voice. Upon realizing who it was, she quickly glanced around as though expecting someone else.

"Just me," he said.

"Celia cut the chain then, did she?"

He frowned, but didn't say anything. He supposed she had the right to be a little annoyed.

"How you been, Ted?" she asked as she closed her book. "Or should I say T.R? Isn't that what everyone's calling you nowadays?"

"Not everyone. Just a few people."

"Interesting. Did Celia come up with that?"

"Yeah," he said with a quick nod. "She likes it."

"How sweet," she said in an almost icy tone.

"So," he smiled, "how you been?"

"Oh, I'm great," she said with a forced smile. "What about you?"

"I'm really good," he said. "School's good, Celia and I are fantastic, and otherwise things are cool, I guess."

She nodded, but didn't speak. There was a definite tension in the air that made things feel off.

"Why is this weird?" he asked.

"Gee, I don't know…" she said in a tone that clearly indicated she did know.

He stared at her. "Vic, if you have something to say—"

"Who are you!?" she blurted out.

"What?"

"What happened to the Ted Lupin I used to know? The one who used to care about things other than his girlfriend? I mean, every time I stop you in the halls or try to just talk to you, you get pulled away by Celia. Plus, I can't exactly say you struggle against going, now can I? It's like she's got you under the Imperius Curse."

His stare turned into a glare. "Oh, give me a break…"

"Right," she mumbled. "No, of course, it's all in my head."

"You don't make things easy, you know," he said bluntly. "If Celia so much as comes within five feet of you, you run the other direction."

"Because she doesn't like me, Ted, and she doesn't exactly hide the fact. Sorry, but I don't feel like hanging around people who don't like me."

He sighed. "I have no idea where you get this from."

She shook her head. "Who would have thought that I'd miss the days where you were awkward and shy?"

"So, I grew up," he said defensively. "I wasn't going to be a complete social idiot forever. One day I was bound to start branching out and making new friends and starting to date. Or are you the only one allowed to do that?"

"Friends and dating are one thing," she said, "but becoming a completely different person is another."

"Sorry, but it's hard for me to take your opinion of my choices seriously when you hang around someone like Colleen and essentially do her bidding."

"I don't do anyone's bidding," she spat. "Can't say the same for you, though…"

"This just goes to show how little you understand the difference—" He stopped mid-sentence. Celia had appeared between two shelves of books just behind Victoire's chair. Victoire turned to see what Ted was looking at and immediately rolled her eyes before standing.

"Perfect timing, as usual," Victoire muttered as she began throwing her stuff into her bag. "Celia, you've got an amazing ability to make Ted lose every relevant thought in his head, as he's just willingly demonstrated. You'll have to teach me that little trick."

Ted scoffed as his pulse quickened. "Stop acting like a child, Victoire."

She pulled her bag over her shoulder and smiled sarcastically. "Sure thing, T.R.!" With that, she turned and stormed towards the exits. He glared at the back of her until she disappeared.

"What happened?" Celia asked quietly.

"She's being a bitch is what happened." He stood and grabbed his things. "I just tried talking to her since it had been awhile and," he shook his head, "I don't even know! She just went off on me."

She nodded as she followed him out of the library and back towards the common room. "Are you really surprised?"

"That she went off on me?" he asked. "Yeah, actually, I am."

"I've never understood your relationship with her," Celia said, having to practically to jog to keep up with his quick strides down the corridor. "I know you've known her forever, but people grow up and change."

"Yeah, I see that," he mumbled as they walked in silence until they reached the Hufflepuff common room. Upon entering, Ted scanned the room. He saw Simon sitting next to a vacant arm chair near the fire and he immediately made a beeline towards it.

"Hey, what's up?" Simon asked as Ted sat.

"Don't ask."

Celia knelt down next to him. "I'm telling you," she said. "She's not the girl you used to know anymore. You've seen how she can be. Plus, you've grown up and she can't handle that. She wants to keep you in that little box she's created so that she always has you to run back to when things in her life get crazy." She sighed. "You not always being around for her and having a life of your own was not a part of the plan."

"Who are we talking about?" Simon asked.

"It's nothing, Simon," she said dismissively. "Don't worry about it."

Ted could feel Simon looking at him, but he chose to continue staring straight ahead into empty space.

"You know I'm right," she said as she stood up and gave his hand a squeeze. "She's mad at you for doing the same thing she did. No offense, but you got the raw end of the deal in that friendship."

He considered those words as she said them. Was he getting a raw deal? The very thought that he might be plagued him for the next several days. Celia seemed convinced of it, and perhaps she had a point. What did Victoire want from him? He may have thrown himself into a new relationship a little wildly, but it's not as if she was making the effort to make things easier on him. If she was, she would be doing a better job at getting along with Celia for his sake.

Maybe they had just grown apart. The two of them did seem like two totally different people on the outside; everyone always said it. Were they really just using their past as a crutch for their friendship now? Was there even a friendship left?

Over the next several days, whenever the topic was brought up—usually by Simon, who, once he had heard what had happened, had several opinions on the matter—Celia and he would go back an forth on the subject. Simon felt the need to continuously remind Ted that he was overreacting, whereas Celia felt the need to remind Ted of what she had determined he was really dealing with: A dead friendship that he was only holding onto for nostalgia's sake.

"It's just a rough patch," Simon said. "You're both doing new things because you're growing up. It's stupid to think it's over. Just ride the wave out."

"Dead wood should be cut, Simon," Celia lectured as Ted watched them both. He had found himself rarely speaking during these conversations. Lately, he also found himself rarely listening.

"How is it that just a few months ago," Simon said, pointing at Ted, "you two were the best of friends and now you find yourself—"

"People grow up and change," Celia repeated for the hundredth time. This seemed to be her driving point.

"Or things come into their lives that force change," he said bluntly. His tone seemed to have added meaning behind it.

She stared at him. "People change. It happens all the time," she said quietly. She had an amazing knack for avoiding confrontation at all costs.

He turned to Ted again and shook his head. "Seriously, don't do anything stupid." He then stood and walked off across the common room towards the boys' dormitory.

Celia rolled her eyes once he was gone. "You know the only reason he's sticking up for her is because he, like every other horny teenage boy in this school, is in love with her. He can't stand that if you and she stop being friends, he'll lose his 'in' with her."

Ted stared at her. It was an interesting point. Simon did fancy Victoire and it would make sense that he would do everything in his power to keep her around. It suddenly made him wonder where Simon's priorities really were.

The struggle on both sides of the debate continued for several days, with Ted being no closer to figuring out what he should do than days before. The fact that Victoire seemed mad and wasn't speaking to him at the moment helped things a little. Perhaps she was realizing the same things he was? Maybe she already assumed they'd grown apart and there was nothing worth saving? Maybe she was already moving on with her life?

Still, the thoughts began to nag him to the point where he couldn't shake them. He and Victoire had been friends for fifteen years. One of his earliest memories was of him being four-years-old and pushing her around on a toy broomstick. He could still remember being little and dancing with her at Harry's wedding, and then again at her uncles' weddings. There were so many memories of them playing, and fighting over toys and games, or of them studying werewolves or daring each other to do stupid things. She'd been his friend for so long; it was hard to find a memory of his childhood that didn't include her in some way. To think that memories were all they had left was not an easy thing to accept.


	7. A Part of the Past

A/N: My, my Celia got quite the reception. lol. I almost feel like I should warn people to make sure they keep "AYitL" in mind when they read this chapter. Deep breath. ;)

But thanks for all the reviews! I wish I could thank you all one by one, but I'm not a fan of the way the reply thing is set up here, so alas, just know I genuinely appreciate each and every one of them. Especially those of you who review each chapter! :) Anyway, two chapters today even though it's a rather shorter story as it is. But I've got a Tropical Storm bearing down on me, so I've got nothing else to do today. You can thank Florida's crappy weather for it. :)

* * *

It had happened on a Saturday afternoon in late April.

Ted had been on the school's grounds with Celia on one of the first sunny days in months. It felt nice to be outside, even though he was mostly just sitting there quizzing Celia on her Transfiguration. It was still nicer than sitting around in the castle, though.

"What's the second stage of human transfiguration?" he asked as he lay back on the grass with a Transfiguration book propped open over his head.

She bit her lip. "Ummm…" She sighed. "I'm so bad at this."

"Think it out," he encouraged. "It's all pretty obvious if you start from the beginning and work your way through each step individually."

"Your mind works a lot differently than mine does, T.R," she said as she smiled and glanced up towards the school. Her face suddenly fell slightly. Ted turned to see what she was looking at and was surprised to see Victoire walking across the grounds towards the pair of them. He hadn't spoken to her since that incident in the library and, as he watched her get closer, he noticed that she looked even more aggravated now than she had that night.

He sat up straight. Just behind Victoire, her friends and several other people were watching her as she crossed the lawn. They were all keeping their distance, yet observing everything with a strange sort of anticipation in their faces.

"Vic, what—?" he began as she stopped in front of them. She ignored Ted and instead glared directly at Celia.

"Don't think I don't know what you're trying to do," she said bluntly.

Ted looked at Celia, who suddenly looked scared. She didn't say anything, but looked as confused as he did.

"Did you really think I wouldn't find out?" Victoire asked in the same tone as before.

"Vic, what are you talking about?" Ted asked.

"I'm talking about little miss manipulator here!" she yelled. "The one who's daft enough to think she can talk about me behind my back as though I wouldn't hear about it." She glared back at Celia. "How thick can you really get?"

Ted stood up in a flash. He grabbed Victoire by the arm and pulled her several yards away. "What is wrong with you?"

"What is wrong with you?" she yelled. "Apparently, she's allowed to sit around and say whatever she wants about me behind my back, but when I do it to her face, suddenly I'm the bitch?"

"She's never done anything to you."

"Except sit around your common room talking about me!" she yelled back, her eyes flashing. "I've heard it all. Dead wood ringing any bells?"

He stared at her. "Who told you that?"

"It doesn't matter," she said matter-of-factly. "All that does matter is that it wasn't you!"

He didn't know quite what to say to that, except, "You're overreacting."

"No, I'm not!" she yelled. "You're supposed to be my friend, in case you've forgotten," she shook her head, "which it's pretty clear you have, Ted. I have to hear from other people that your girlfriend is saying things about me and you don't even bother to tell me anything about it!"

"She's not being malicious," he said as he glanced over his shoulder to where Celia was observing the entire confrontation.

"Are you really that blind?" she yelled once more. "She _hates_ me, Ted. For what, I don't even know, but all she wants is for me to be out of your life."

He rolled his eyes and wondered if Victoire had bothered to listen to how crazy she sounded.

"And you don't even see it," she said as she took a step back and lowered her voice for the first time since she had confronted him. "You don't see a thing."

"That's because there's nothing to see," he said. "She doesn't hate you. You're acting mental."

"So, you think I'm making this up?"

"I don't know what you're doing," he said as he thought back to all those nights in the common room with Celia and her lectures. Yes, she had said things about Victoire, but it was because she genuinely believed that his friendship with her was over. It wasn't because Celia had some weird hatred towards Victoire or was trying to force her out of his life.

"Since day one," she continued, "since the day she and you got together, she's been trying to push me away. And you're letting her. You don't even care."

"I think you're the one pushing yourself away," he said frankly. "Or maybe we're just growing apart, have you ever thought of that?"

"Or maybe we're being forced apart," she countered. "Have you ever thought of that?" She paused. "Oh, wait, no, of course you haven't. It could never be precious, little Celia's fault, could it?"

He glared at her. "Stop it."

"No!" she yelled. "I will not! You know why? Because I don't like her! There are said it! I hate her for how she's changing you, and I hate how she's sitting there," she pointed towards Celia, "and enjoying every single minute of this."

He felt his face get hot. "And you're so innocent in all of this?"

"You honestly cannot think this is my fault?" she said incredulously.

"All of the snide comments? The 'Celia's cut the chain, has she?' remarks? Don't think I don't notice the faces you make every time she comes near you—"

"You notice all of that, but when she does the same things to me, you turn a blind eye?"

He remained expressionless and looked away.

"It doesn't matter what I say, does it?" she asked. "You already believe what she's told you."

"What's not to believe?" he yelled. "It's all pretty apparent. I mean, look! You're acting like a self-centered brat who freaks out if she can't control everything and anything."

She let out a patronizing laugh. "And here I thought that was your type." She glanced at Celia. "Isn't that what gets you off, Ted?"

His face twitched as his jaw clenched. He couldn't believe the way she was acting. She really didn't think she had any fault in this, even though she had, on numerous occasions, made her dislike of Celia abundantly clear. It _had_ to be Celia's fault.

"You know what?" she said. "It doesn't even matter because, really, it's you that's eating up what she's feeding you. You're the one believing some random girl you've been dating for a handful of months over your friend of years."

That was it. He'd heard enough. First it was Celia's fault, now it was his. Who was next on the long list of people to blame that seemed to include everyone but her? He had spent the last several days wondering how life would be without Victoire in it, but given the person standing in front of him right now, he suddenly couldn't wait to find out.

"I don't care anymore," he said.

"That's fairly obvious."

"This is a waste of time," he said as he shoved his hands into his pockets and took a few steps back. "We're obviously not going to be friends anymore, so let's just cut our losses. There's nothing left to fight for."

She gaped a little. "You're serious?"

He nodded. He was dead serious, and for a split-second, Victoire looked as if she was close to tears. However, the moment passed when her expression suddenly hardened. She glared directly at him. He had never in his life seen her make that face or look at anyone like that. Had he not been so caught up in the moment, he might have been a little scared.

"Fine," she said. "Whatever. Just know that I think you're being a complete fuck up."

"I don't give a damn what you think," he said coldly. "Tell you what, from now on, you mind your own business and I'll mind mine." He turned and began walking back towards Celia, who was now standing. Without a single word, he grabbed his bag and started marching back up towards the castle.

Not once in his entire life had he been in an argument like that with anyone. If you had told him a year ago that he would be in one, the absolute last person he would have thought it would have been with was Victoire. On top of that, if you would have told him that the result of the argument would have been the end of their friendship, he would have believed it even less. Yet here it was. He and Victoire were done. As of this moment, she was just a part of the past.

"Good riddance," Colleen mumbled to Penelope Shears as Ted passed them on his way into the castle. She was making a point of being loud enough so he could hear her. "I've been telling Victoire for the last year how she should sever that useless tie."

He threw her a dirty look, but said nothing. She was the last thing he felt like dealing with. In fact, the only thought running through his head at that moment was how, for the first time in his life, he genuinely felt as if he could stay mad at Victoire.

* * *

"She said she hated you?" Maggie Connors asked Celia over dinner in the Great Hall, just hours after the fight had occurred. She was glancing between Celia and the Gryffindor table.

Celia nodded and glanced at Ted sitting beside her. "It was the strangest thing ever. I mean, she just came over and started yelling. I've never done anything to her."

Simon suddenly coughed from across the table. Ted looked at up him, but he didn't seem to notice. He continued to remain fairly preoccupied with cutting a piece of chicken on his plate.

"It doesn't surprise me that she's really a bitch," said Julia Summers suddenly. "She goes around pretending she's really nice and that she's not like those girls she hangs out with, but you know she is. I've always thought she was."

"Clearly," Maggie agreed.

"She's actually worse," Julia continued. "At least with Colleen you know what you're going to get. With her..." She trailed off and shook her head.

Celia nodded and glanced at Ted. He was absently pushing some peas around his plate.

"It was sweet of you to stand up for Cee like that, T.R," Maggie said. "Just know you've done the right thing. You couldn't have know she'd turn out to be—"

He sighed and forced a begrudging smile. He was in absolutely no way interested in talking about this anymore.

"Let's talk about something else," Celia quickly said. "What's done is done. There's no point dwelling on it further."

Ted nodded slowly. Not dwelling on it further was of course his goal, but that was easier said than done.

From that day forward, he rarely saw Victoire for the rest of term. He would notice her occasionally in passing or in the Great Hall at meal times, but they never got close enough to merit any acknowledgment. Not that he would have acknowledged her even if they did get close enough. He had no desire to talk to her and it seemed the feelings were mutual. Each wanted nothing to do with the other, and the only common connection that Ted even still shared with Victoire was the occasional conversation with her brother or sister.

"You're fighting?" Dominique Weasley had asked him after catching him in the corridors one day. "Actually fighting?"

"We're not fighting," Ted said. "We'd have to have something to do with one another if we were fighting. We don't even have that."

"So, you're done?" she asked as she tucked her blonde hair behind her ears and stared at him. "All those years of friendship... Poof! Gone?"

He shrugged. "Sorry, Nicki."

She began to turn away. "Why are you apologizing? You didn't do anything to me. I don't care if you and Victoire want to be idiots."

He had taken that to mean that Dominique didn't hold any real hard feelings against him, which was good to know. The same could be said of Louis Weasley, who, after confronting Ted in a similar manner, only seemed to offer a reaction of: "Women? What can you do?" The fact that neither of them seemed to flat out hate him, or blindly side with their sister, was a slight relief in the midst of everything that was happening. Ted may have always been closest with Victoire, but he'd spent a lot of time growing up with those two as well.

As far as everyone else was concerned, very little was said to him about the incident after the initial fallout. While it was obvious that Simon didn't necessarily agree with what had happened, he didn't go about trying to tell Ted that he needed to rectify things. He didn't say much of anything, in fact. He mostly kept his opinions to himself; a rare first for Simon. Celia's approach had been similar. She didn't seem celebratory of the fact that Victoire and he were no longer friends—which only made him further realize that Victoire didn't know what she was talking about when she claimed Celia hated her—but instead, repeatedly let Ted know that if he needed to talk about things, she was always there for him. Otherwise, she rarely brought the matter up.

As term ended and summer started, Ted knew that he would soon be able to put everything behind him once he finally told everyone back at home that they shouldn't be expecting Victoire around over the summer. He didn't think it was news that he had to announce right away though, especially since he'd found plenty of other ways to spend his free time without arising questions. However, once Celia and Simon went on holidays with their families, Ted knew he'd soon be stuck with little to do. The inevitable question was bound to come up.

"Bored then?" his Grams asked as she walked into the living room and saw Ted lazily laying about the sofa.

He glanced at her. "A little."

"When does Celia get back from her holiday?"

"Next Monday," he mumbled. "Worse yet, Simon's gone for the weekend as well."

"Why don't you go over to Harry's and play with the children?"

"I'm going over tomorrow."

"Well, what's Victoire up to, then?" she asked as she charmed a feather duster to start dusting shelves around the room. "Come to think of it, she hasn't been around all summer, has she?"

Ted inhaled slowly. "Yeah…We're not really friends anymore."

She stopped dusting and turned to him. "Pardon me?"

"We're not friends anymore." He shrugged. "We grew apart."

"You've grown apart," she asked with skepticism in her tone, "since Christmas time?"

He shrugged again. "Yeah."

"And what exactly made you realize this?"

"I don't really want to talk about it, Grams," he said before he stood up. "We just had an argument and we don't talk anymore. It happens."

She stared at him. "But you two have been friends for so long."

"We _were_ friends for so long," he corrected, taking several steps towards the next room to avoid further discussion. "It's not a big deal."

And it wasn't a big deal as far as he was concerned, but everyone else seemed to think it was for some unexplained reason. His grandmother couldn't go an hour without pestering him to fix things, and then once Harry and Ginny found out from Bill Weasley what had happened, they both seemed a little put-off that Ted hadn't mentioned it sooner.

"What possibly could be so bad that you'd throw away years of friendship?" Ginny asked him over dinner.

"Gin, he doesn't want to talk about it," Harry said. Ted grinned at him. He could always count on Harry.

"I just don't understand," she said as she proceeded to cut up Lily's pork chop, before scolding James and Albus for sticking carrots up their noses. "Bill told me that you two had a huge row and that Victoire claims you've stopped speaking."

Harry sighed.

Ted fidgeted in his chair and avoided Ginny's eyes. "That's pretty much it."

She shook her head and started cutting into her own dinner. "It's just a shame, is all."

"What kind of fight was it?" Albus asked from beside Ted. He was currently examining the carrot that he had just pulled out of his nose. "Like a wand fight?"

"You didn't curse her, did you?" Lily asked with wide eyes. She sounded horrified at the idea.

"No," Ted said quickly. "It was just an argument. It's not a big deal. It's between me and her. Can we please talk about something else?"

"Yes," Harry said quickly."Let's talk about anything else."

Things grew quiet around the table. The only sound heard was the clanking of silverware against plates. No one spoke until James suddenly asked, with his mouth full of food, "Hey Teddy, how's your giiiiiirlfriend?"

Albus and Lily giggled.

Ted grinned. "She's fine."

"I like Celia," Lily said as she pulled her feet underneath her and sat up straighter. "She's nice."

"Well, good thing, because I like her too," Ted said. Both Harry and Ginny exchanged smiles.

As it turned out, just as Ted had suspected, after everyone's initial surprise wore off—and they all began to realize that he and Victoire were being serious in their claims—the issue grew less and less talked about. It was the way he much preferred things to be. He could now enjoy himself without having to be bothered by everyone telling him that he should rethink what had happened every other second of the day. He could finally put everything behind him and enjoy the rest of the summer in peace.

And enjoy his summer, he did.

His main priority was to keep himself busy. He and Simon cooked up loads of ways to do this, all the while trying to stay out of trouble. The pair were particularly proud of coming up with an amusing way to keep themselves entertained that involved Ted morphing his appearance while unsuspecting Muggle shopkeepers weren't paying attention. The Muggles would then wonder where these random new people that Ted had morphed himself into kept coming from, and the looks on their faces-mostly expressions of pure and utter bewilderment-often had both Simon and Ted in hysterics.

Ted knew he was pushing his luck by morphing around Muggles, since he'd been told his entire life to never let them see what he could do. If he were to get caught…well, he didn't even want to think about what his grandmother would do to him if she found out, but he knew his summer would suddenly get a lot bleaker. But doing it was just so funny that he almost thought it was worth the risk. It didn't help that Simon encouraged him and always reassured him that Muggles were never open-minded enough to really believe what they were seeing.

"They'd write themselves off as being mental before they'd ever think you were really changing," Simon explained to him as the pair of them and Celia sat in Simon's backyard.

"But what if you get caught?" Celia asked. "You're risking a lot more than just getting yelled at and locked in your room for the rest of the summer."

Simon rolled his eyes. Celia had been telling them what they were doing was stupid and "not funny" since she'd heard about it. She seemed rather paranoid that something earth shattering could happen.

"I'm serious, Simon," she said.

"You're always serious…" Simon mumbled.

"It's easy for you to laugh everything off," she said quickly, "but he's the one," she pointed at Ted, "that's going to end up in the real trouble if he gets caught."

Simon laughed. "Are you afraid Muggles are going to lock him up in a laboratory and perform experiments on him?"

It was her turn to roll her eyes. "You act like stranger things haven't happened to magical people before. Did you pay attention at all in History of Magic?"

"Actually, no," he said. "I always just copied off of T.R's and Caleb's notes. Binns put me to sleep."

"Look," Ted said as he turned to Celia, "I'm really careful. I never do it when there are a lot of people around and I never do it when someone might be looking at me."

"But why risk it?"

He shrugged sheepishly. "It is really funny to see the looks on people's faces."

"It's hilarious," Simon added.

None of this reasoning seemed to change Celia's mind. She simply looked away and mumbled, "I will never understand you boys."

Ted half smiled at her. He knew she just cared about him and didn't want him to potentially get himself into trouble—or worse—but he really didn't think what he was doing was that bad. He wasn't stupid after all, but Celia always assumed the worst would happen with everything. If she didn't study hard enough for a test, she assumed she would fail. If she did something wrong, she assumed it would come back to bite her tenfold. If the chance to get in trouble was there, she assumed that the worst possible consequence would be the automatic result.

Ted knew her paranoia stemmed from the fact that her mother had been killed when she was seven. It was something they had actually bonded over when they first got together, the only difference being that Ted had spent his life not knowing what it was like to have parents, whereas Celia could distinctly remember having her mother taken away from her. As she told it, she had spent most of her childhood worried about everything as it was, but when her mother went to work one day, only never to return due to a crazy nutter killing three people in the shop she happened to work in, her feelings of paranoia had permanently intensified.

Ted had also learned through her stories that she not only had _her_ life changed in an instant, but her father had suddenly became increasingly overprotective of her as a result. Her father, who had already lost several of his family members during the war with Voldemort, began ranting about the world was full of hidden dangers and Celia needed to learn them. She naturally became convinced that this was true; believing that her house would burn down if someone left a candle lit, or that the nice man at the ice cream shop was secretly planning to kidnap her. Her father had all but convinced her that she should never completely feel safe. She should always be weary of people's intentions and she should never let her guard down…Something she rarely did.

She was a very serious person. It was where Ted and she differed most. He'd always taken himself to be a fairly serious sort of guy, but he always knew when to relax and have a laugh. He'd always had a playful sense of humor and loved to goof around if the occasion was appropriate. Celia's sense of humor was extremely selective. He could make her smile a hundred times a day, but she rarely laughed, or at least, she never _really_ laughed. She would chuckle, she would snicker, she would even giggle from time to time, but the instances of her having a hearty belly laugh were few and far between. Ted could probably count on one hand the number of times that he'd seen her really laugh...And they'd been together for months now.

"So," Simon said, cutting into Ted's thoughts and reminding him he was still sitting in Simon's backyard, "what do you guys want to do?"

Celia shrugged and Ted cracked his knuckles. "I don't know."

"We got to think of something," Simon said. "We go back to school in a week and you know next year is going to suck the fun out of life. We have to enjoy it while we can."

"Do you think N.E.W.T.s will really be that bad?" Celia asked.

"I don't doubt it," Ted said. "We'll be lucky to make it out of seventh year alive."

Celia looked nervous to hear this. She opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off by Simon suddenly standing.

"I have an idea," he said. "I'll be right back."

"Oh, here we go…" Ted said as he watched Simon disappear into his house. He shook his head before turning to Celia and smiling at her. "You okay?"

She nodded and smiled a little. "Just tired."

Ted checked his watch. "It's eight o'clock, how can you be tired?"

She shrugged, but said nothing else. Ted reached out and gave her an affectionate rub on the back as they sat their quietly staring around Simon's yard. Somewhere nearby, several crickets were chirping loudly, creating the only noise in the garden.

"My dad says you should come by for dinner before school starts again," Celia finally said.

Ted made a face. "Seriously?"

She turned to him. "Why is that so hard to believe?"

"Because your dad hates me."

"That's not true," she said quickly, though Ted didn't believe that for a second. Given Celia's father's overprotective nature, he carried the attitude that no one was quite good enough for his daughter. It was something he had made abundantly clear on the few occasions he had met Ted. Celia tried to explain that it wasn't Ted he didn't like. He apparently didn't like anyone, but it still didn't make meetings with Mr. Ward any more pleasant. It was why they spent most of their time hanging out at Ted's house, or at anyone else's house but Celia's.

"Trust me, your dad doesn't like me," Ted said with a shrug. "I mean, he won't even call me by my name. He calls me 'the kid with the hair.'"

Celia made a face. "Well…" She paused. "Well, who cares what he thinks, anyway? I like you. That's all that matters."

Ted threw her a surprised smile. She so rarely disobeyed her father, that it was a bit strange to hear her say something like that. It was also a bit comforting to hear that she did feel strongly enough about him that she wouldn't let her father's opinion sway her.

"Ta-da!" Simon said as he reappeared. Both Celia and Ted turned to him and saw he was holding out a bottle of some sort. He seemed quite excited to be holding it.

"What's that?" Ted asked, squinting through the dim light to get a better look.

"This," he said, "is what my sister brought back from her holiday in the Bahamas." He held out the bottle for Ted to take. "Well, not the only thing, obviously, but she brought this back for my mum and she didn't want it."

"It's rum," Celia said.

Simon nodded.

"So, you want to drink it?" Ted asked.

"No, I want to bathe in it," he said sarcastically.

Ted inspected the bottle in his hand. He'd never really drank before, minus a few glasses of wine at dinner with Harry and Ginny, but he wasn't adverse to doing it now. He handed the bottle back to Simon "All right."

"Excellent," Simon said, glancing at Celia. "What about you, Cee?"

She gave Ted a weary look, but shook her head. "No, thanks."

"You do know you're not doing anything wrong, right?" Simon asked. "I know you're one-hundred and fifty thousand percent against breaking rules, but you're over seventeen now, so you're allowed to lighten up and—"

"Simon…" Ted said, throwing him a look telling him not to bother. For whatever reason, Simon seemed to like goading Celia into little arguments. Though he denied it when Ted asked him, Ted had a feeling he thought it was funny given the way Celia reacted.

Simon sighed. "So, you're just going to sit and watch us?"

Celia glanced at Ted. "You're really going to do this?"

He shrugged. "Why not?"

"Why?" she countered.

"Because why the hell not?" Simon asked with the smile. He shook the bottle in her direction. "What else is there to do?"

Celia stood. "I will never understand you two and the things you come up with when you're together."

"How is having mindless fun a difficult concept to understand?" Simon asked.

Ted rolled his eyes at Simon, before he stood as well. "What are you going to do?" he asked Celia.

"I think I'll head home," she said with a small smile. "I'm almost too tired to put up with Simon's antics as it is, let alone when he's piss drunk."

"I have a feeling I'll only be more charming than I already am," Simon offered.

Ted laughed. "Except replace charming with annoying."

"Please don't do anything stupid," Celia said to Ted, casting Simon and his bottle of rum another quick glance.

"Yes, Mum," said Simon.

"We won't do anything stupid," Ted said with a reassuring smile.

"At least not on accident," Simon added.

Ted threw him a look. "Could you give us a second?"

"Hurry up, then," he said. "Here, I'll walk you through it. You kiss her, she kisses you, you say goodbye, she says goodbye, I say goodbye," he paused and gestured to the bottle in his hand, "then we say hello!"

Ted snorted a laugh, but Celia only shook her head before saying, "I'll see you later."

"Bye," Ted said as he leaned in and started to kiss her goodbye. They'd been at for only a few seconds until the sound of liquid swishing around in a bottle suddenly made him stop and look at Simon. He was smiling and deliberately shaking the bottle.

"Don't mind me," Simon said.

Celia cast one last weary look at Simon before she finished her goodbye and disappeared with a small pop. By the time Ted turned back to Simon, he had already opened the bottle and was sniffing its contents curiously.

"You're a prat," Ted said as he sat across from him.

Simon laughed. "Sorry, but the last time I had to sit around and wait for you two to say goodbye, Maggie and I ended up waiting around and talking for fifteen minutes." He held up the bottle. "Snog on your own time, mate."

Ted took the bottle and sniffed it for himself. "Smells good."

"Looks like it tastes good, too," Simon said. "Celia's missing out."

"I don't think she sees it that way."

Simon chuckled before he took a swig from the bottle. He made a face as swallowed, but seemed fairly satisfied once he let the taste sit for a second. "Not bad. Tropical, even."

Ted cocked his eyebrow. "What does tropical taste like?"

He held out the bottle for him. "See for yourself."

Ted took the bottle and sipped it, which turned into the two of them exchanging the bottle back and forth until about a quarter of it was gone. It didn't take long for the effects to go to their heads, seeing as they were both inexperienced. Not that they were complaining, since they both rather enjoyed the onset of giggles that overcame them after awhile.

"Hufflepuff is such a weird word," Simon said before laughing. "Just say it out loud. Hufflepuff. I mean, what is that? Hufflepuff, Hufflepuff, Pufflehuff," he paused and blinked, "wait that last one's not right, is it?"

Ted laughed. "Did you just say Pufflehuff?"

"I think I like Pufflehuff more than I like Hufflepuff," he said thoughtfully. "It's a much better word."

"Well, it's not a word, is it? It's a name. Helga Hufflepuff was someone's name."

Simon laughed. "Helga…"

"And a lot of names are rather stupid," Ted added as he consider this. "Look at some of our professors. Flitwick. Longbottom…"

Simon doubled over in laughter. "Longbottom!"

Ted cracked up as well, not only because of how funny the name Longbottom suddenly sounded, but also because of how funny Simon seemed to find it. Before they knew it, they were both struggling to catch their breaths.

"You know what's not stupid," Simon said once they had calmed down a little. "Reed. Simon Reed. That's a great name."

"Yeah, it's not bad."

"Now, Ted Lupin is kind of funny," he continued. "Luuuuuuupin."

Ted made a face. "Screw you, I like my name. My name is nowhere near as bad a Hufflepuff."

"You mean, Pufflehuff. As far as I'm concerned, I'm now a member of Pufflehuff house."

They both laughed.

"Who else has a funny name?" Ted asked.

"You know whose name I've always thought was funny? Not bad, but funny?"

"Whose?"

"Victoire's," he said. "Just the way it sounds. Vic-twah. Vic-twaaaah." He laughed.

Ted's expression went blank, but he didn't say anything. He just puffed up his cheeks and slowly released the air in them. It wasn't the first time he had heard Victoire's name mentioned lately, but for whatever reason, this time it just hit him harder than it usually did.

"What?" Simon asked, sensing a sudden change in Ted's mood. "What's…? Ohhhh. Shit. I didn't mean to bring that up."

"Bring what up?" Ted asked, taking the bottle and swigging it again. "Who cares? It's not a big deal."

Simon rubbed his eyes. "I take it you two haven't spoken at all?"

Ted looked at the ground. "Why would we?"

He shrugged. "Stranger things have happened."

He shook his head. "Well, we haven't."

"And you still have no desire to?"

"Nope."

"Right," Simon said as he took the bottle back from Ted and swigged it. "Right."

Ted stared at him. He knew Simon had been entirely too quiet on the entire matter concerning Victoire, but he was sure that he didn't want hear his opinion now. It was actually the last thing at all that he wanted to discuss.

"I really don't feel like talking about this now," Ted mumbled.

"Oh, I wasn't going to," Simon said, offering up the bottle once more. "Bringing up stuff like that up while we're drinking is asking for trouble." He suddenly grinned. "Us Pufflehuffs know better than that."


	8. The First Time

As school resumed for Ted's seventh and final year, it didn't take long for things to become exceptionally busy. After only one month of being back, he swore that if he heard the phrase, "This will be on you N.E.W.T.," one more time, he would hex himself dead. It was only the start of term, yet people were already worrying themselves over exams that were still months away. It was an attitude that Ted couldn't quite be bothered with just yet. He figured he had until at least the Christmas holidays before he had to start stressing himself out; a view that Celia thankfully shared.

"They're not until May and it's only October," Celia said as she and Ted walked down a corridor on their way back from the library, their arms full of books. "What's the point of worrying now?"

"I don't get it either," Ted said as they turned a corner. It was then that Celia ran smack into someone coming round the other side. The collision caused her books to fall and scatter all over the floor.

"Watch it," said Penelope Shears. She gave Celia a sharp look before taking a few steps around the mess of books. Her friend, Aspeth Pucey, gave a short laugh before following after her.

Ted glanced down at the mess and tried to think of a way he could help. With his own arms full, there really wasn't any way for him to do anything without dropping all of his things.

"You're not even going to help her pick them up, Penelope?" asked a sudden male voice.

Ted looked up. Standing there was David Thorpe—a popular Ravenclaw from his own year, who, years before, Ted had actually been a little jealous of due to his friendship with Elizabeth Cole during their Potions lessons. What came as the biggest surprise, however, was that he was currently standing there with Victoire, holding her hand.

It wasn't the first time Ted had seen Victoire since school had started, but it was definitely the closest they'd come to one another since their fight earlier in the year. He hadn't heard that she and David had started dating, but then again, he didn't suppose he should have. His eyes met hers for the first time in months, but she deliberately looked away after only a second.

"I'm not helping _her_," Penelope called behind her, just as Celia bent down to pick up her books. "And if you want to know why, Dave, ask your girlfriend."

David glanced at Victoire, who said nothing. He dropped her hand and bent down to grab the last of Celia's books.

"Here," he said as he handed them to her. "Sorry. Some people…" He shrugged.

"Thank you," Celia said, taking them from him. David stood back up and grabbed at Victoire's hand, just as she began eagerly pulling him away without a second look at either Celia or Ted. Ted could hear David asking her something along the lines of, "What was that about?" as they walked away, but they turned a corner a moment later and disappeared before she had answered.

"You okay?" Ted asked as he turned back to Celia.

"Yeah," she said, straightening back up and forcing a smile. "No big deal." Her face was noticeably pinker as she turned away from him.

Though it had definitely come as bit of a surprise to see Victoire up close after having spent so much time apart, Ted had managed to put the encounter out of his mind until a week later. It was then that he began to notice Victoire hanging around the outside of his Potions lessons, a class he happened to share with David. On the first occasion he had noticed her, Ted had almost walked straight into her when he wasn't paying attention. She, however, had moved at the last moment to greet David, allowing them to narrowly avoid what would have been a very awkward collision.

The two never spoke, but every time Ted left Potions he found himself almost absently scanning the corridor for her. Of course, she was always there; standing dutifully off to the side, so as to avoid everyone as they poured out of class. She even did a convincing job of acting as if Ted didn't exist; never once attempting to make eye contact with him. She simply stood waiting for David. Her face lighting up every time she saw him.

Ted only ever paid attention to her for seconds at a time--the amount of time it took him to pass her in hallways--but in those seconds, he noticed that her face had never quite lit up for Malcolm Abernathy as it did for David. He assumed that meant she must have fancied David more than she had ever fancied Malcolm, and, for the briefest of moments, he wondered why that was. It was the first time, in a long time, that Ted had actually found himself wondering what Victoire was up to; if only for a few moments after every Potions lesson.

Of course, once he managed to get away from all of that, she rarely crept into his thoughts. He had his own life to focus on; his own work, his own problems, and his own concerns. As it were, once December rolled around and the Christmas holidays appraoched, a huge new concern popped up into his life that soon began to consume his thoughts entirely…

Ted had been sitting the common room, flipping through the day's _Daily Prophet_ to catch up on the previous evenings Quidditch scores, when Celia appeared. She sat herself down on the arm of the chair he was currently sitting in. "Hi," she said.

"Hey," he mumbled, sounding preoccupied. He had just found the score he had been looking for and his face had immediately fallen. The Wimbourne Wasps had lost again. This was three times in a row now. This was ridiculous. They would never make it to the playoffs if they—

"I just got a letter from my dad," she said, cutting into his thoughts.

"Oh yeah?" he asked absently, still checking the other scores in the hopes that some of the other teams had lost too. "Anything new?"

"He's going out of town before Christmas. He has to leave before school is out. So, for once, he's not dragging me along."

"That's a first," he said with a small smile. His eyes suddenly landed on another score. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me. The stupid Cannons won last night? In what world am I living in where Chudley can win, but Wimbourne can't?"

Celia shrugged. She'd never liked Quidditch. "So, anyway, I was thinking…" Her tone grew anxious. It had a tendency to do that whenever she got really nervous. "Maybe you could come over at some point."

He flipped the page of his paper. "Yeah. Of course. It'll be nice to not get an interrogation from your dad, for once." He glanced up at her and noticed she was suddenly blushing. "Are you okay?"

She nodded. "I'm fine. I was just thinking that we could…" She hesitated. "I mean, since we'll actually have the privacy, and we'll be completely alone for once…"

"Yeah, sure," he agreed. "It'll be a nice change."

She sighed and looked away. She seemed to be struggling with something. "It's just, maybe we should consider whether we want to—" She bit her bottom lip. "You know…? What we've been putting off until we were ready?"

He stared at her blankly, having no idea what she was talking about. What had they put off? There wasn't anything he could think of that they had made a conscious effort to wait to do, except—

He dropped the paper. "Ohhh…" he said, immediately sitting up straighter. She was talking about sex. Having sex. Them having sex. Together…Sex. Suddenly that was the only word his mind seemed to be able to formulate. He had to say something else, though. He needed to make sure that's what she meant. "Are you talking about…?"

"I was just thinking about it," she said quickly. "If you don't want to—"

"No, I want to," he said far quicker than he had meant to. "I mean, I do. I just haven't really thought about it."

That was a lie. He had thought about plenty. He thought about it a lot. He'd been seriously contemplating the act itself since that previous summer. After they were about six months into their relationship. Given the amount of time they had spent together over the summer, naturally things came up. He'd never said anything for fear of her reaction, but he certainly thought about it. He had just assumed that when the right time came up, they would talk about it. He'd let her bring it up. He wouldn't push it. Simon claimed that was gentlemanly of him…He also said it was dense, but still, gentlemanly.

However, Celia did end up bringing it up over the summer, much to Ted's surprise. The topic had come after a particularly heavy snogging session in his room after his Grams had gone out. It had been one of those situations where things could have easily crossed into more unfamiliar territory had they not stopped themselves, and it only made Ted realize that they were getting closer and closer. He assumed Celia must have realized the same thing.

"Do you want to do it?" she had asked him from her seat on the edge of his bed. She stared back at him.

He thought about how he should answer that. One glance down at his shorts at that very moment seemed to be a pretty clear indicator of what he wanted to do, but he wasn't about to make her feel uncomfortable if it wasn't what she wanted. "I want to when you do," he said.

She sighed. "I just don't think I'm ready yet."

"That's okay," he said he subtly adjusted his shorts. "Honestly, I'm in no rush. Whenever you're ready."

That had been that. She had seemed appreciative of his understanding, and they hadn't really brought the subject up again…Well, until now.

"I just thought I should, maybe, put it out there," she said, standing from the chair. "So we can be prepared if we do decide to."

"Yeah." He nodded rather quickly. "No, I mean, yeah. Good plan."

She smiled. "Okay, well, I have to get to Divination. I'll see you at dinner?"

He nodded and she kissed him quickly. He watched her go. He waited until she was completely out of the portrait hole before breaking into a ridiculously goofy grin. Before he knew what he was doing, he had all but sprinted down the hallway towards his dorm room, where he knew he would find Simon. In an unnecessary attempt to make a grand entrance, he excitedly threw open the door.

Simon looked up from what he was doing. Caleb, who was lying on his own bed, also turned to look. Ted's smile grew as he walked over and plopped himself down on the edge of his bed that faced Simon. His face was practically begging for him to ask about his sudden good mood.

Simon laughed a little. "Do I want to know?"

Ted smiled. "I'm having sex."

"Right now?" Caleb asked from across the room. "Sorry to break it to you, Lupin, but I think you're doing it wrong."

"Not now," he said as he kicked his feet up onto his bed, "but some time next week I am."

"Really?" Simon asked skeptically. "Since when?"

"Since Celia's dad's going out of town."

"Nice," Caleb quipped.

"Did she say this," Simon asked, "or are you just assuming? Because knowing Celia, you're not getting shagged until she's made up her mind."

"Isn't that how they all are?" Caleb asked.

"She's the one who brought it up," Ted said. "She's the one who asked me."

Simon now looked thoroughly impressed and slightly jealous. "Good on you, mate. About damn time. It seems like you two have been together for ages…"

"Shut up," Ted mumbled as he lay back onto his bed. His mind immediately went to thinking about the prospect of having sex for the first time. Simon, Caleb, and he had talked about it hundreds times, but to actually know it was coming…He wondered if anything would change between him and Celia. It was bound to bring them closer, right? He supposed things could get awkward, but they'd waited this long so as to avoid that. He shook his head. No, things would be fine.

"You know all your spells?" Simon asked suddenly.

He glanced at him. "What?"

"You know? The protective charms?" he added. "As fun as if would be to have a little blue-haired baby running around, I'm sure that's not up your alley at the moment."

"Oh," Ted said. "Yeah, I think I do."

Caleb laughed. "That's definitely not something you want to _think_ you know. You want to make sure you know."

He had a point. Ted thought of what he'd learned about sex from when Harry had tried to explain it to him. It had been right after James was born, and Ted had curiously asked Harry where exactly the new baby had come from. He had thought it was just a spell or the likes; perhaps a baby charm. Of course, it wasn't a spell at all. Once Harry had sat him down and explained all the basic mechanics of it to him, he had actually been rather horrified.

Still, Ted had felt quite smart a few years later when Louis Weasley asked, in the middle of a big Weasley family dinner, where babies came from and he had been able to cleverly announce to the whole table how it was done. Harry had managed to hush him up before he had finished, but he still remembered feeling very happy that he had had the information to share with everyone.

It hadn't been until this summer, when Harry had pulled Ted aside for the second part of the age old sex discussion, that he had—rather bluntly for Harry—asked him if Celia and he were having sex. When Ted had told him that they weren't, Harry informed him that when he was ready, he should make sure to talk to him; particularly if he had any questions. Now that Ted found himself sitting here with plenty of them, it seemed awkward to ask.

"Do you know the proper spells?" Ted asked Simon.

He shrugged. "I think I do, but sometimes it's hard to tell the real ones apart from the ones blokes make up just for shits and giggles, you know?" He glanced across the room at Caleb. "You know them, don't you Cal?"

"Of course I do."

Ted sat up. "So, what are they?"

He was quiet for a moment. "I don't think I'm the one to tell you."

"What?" said Simon and Ted at the same time.

He shrugged. "I just don't."

"Because you don't know crap," Simon said, rolling his eyes.

"I do," Caleb said as he suddenly stood up to leave, "but it's not my responsibility to inform people. You'll figure something out there, Lupin."

"He's making it up," Simon called after him before turing towards Ted. "See how fast he ran out of here. He's as clueless as the rest of us."

So that night, just as they always did when they had questions they couldn't figure out the answer to, Simon and Ted found themselves in the library poking around in the various shelves for books that might help them. After an hour, and about ten books, they'd still yet to find anything relevant.

"We could ask?" Simon suggested.

"Oh yeah, I'm sure Madame Pince would love to answer that."

"Maybe we're looking in the wrong section," Simon said, glancing up at the shelves. "You don't think they've had the books removed to keep people from doing it, do you?"

"Taking the books isn't going to stop people. It's just going to stop people from doing it properly."

"You know who I bet would know?" Simon said. "We should go ask Colleen Lynch. I bet she'd have the spell for you in five different languages."

They both laughed louder than they should have, which caused several people sitting in the library to turn and glare in their direction. Ted gave them an apologetic look before turning back towards the shelves to continue searching.

"Have you thought that maybe Celia knows them?" Simon asked.

Ted sighed. He had thought about that, but it wasn't a risk that he was willing to take. That, and it was rather embarrassing to think that he was so naïve about these things that he couldn't figure out a few simple spells. "I'd rather just know," he said as he pulled a book off the shelf and began flipping through the pages. "Worst case scenario, I have to ask Harry."

Simon nodded as he also began scanning through yet another book. After another half an hour of searching to no avail, Ted tossed the book he had been looking through aside in a frustrated huff. "This is ridiculous."

"You think they keep it in the restricted section?" Simon asked. "We can get access from a professor and claim it's for an essay or something."

Ted shook his head. "Someone in this school knows this. I know someone around here is getting laid."

Just as he said it, Madame Pince, the elderly librarian, just happened to stroll by on her hourly rounds of the room. She abruptly paused and glared at Ted as if she had just overheard him swear loudly. Simon attempted to suppress his laughter, while Ted managed a sheepish smile before averting his eyes to the ground.

In the end, neither of them had found anything useful. They had asked around to everyone they could think of, only to end up with so many different responses that they weren't sure who was right and who was wrong. Simon didn't seem to understand how there weren't more pregnant students running around, given the sheer amount of idiots that had their facts mixed up.

As the holidays started, Ted had all but given up trying to find answers from random people and books. He knew he only had one place left to turn to if he wanted real answers, but he still didn't feel any less awkward about asking.

"Ted," said Harry as he opened the door to find Ted standing on his doorstep. "You're back from school. Good timing, I just got home from work."

"I figured," Ted said as he walked inside the house and glanced around. It was strangely quiet. No one else seemed to be home, which he was thankful for. The last thing he needed at the moment was to deal with the kids trying to be nosy.

"Guess Ginny took the kids out," Harry said as he strolled over to the sofa. "So, how have you been? I didn't expect to see you so soon. Your train must have just gotten in."

"Yeah, not long ago," he said. The truth was that his train had just gotten in about fifteen minutes previously. He had then Apparated home to drop off his trunk before literally Apparating straight over here. He had plans to go over to Celia's next.

"How was your term?" Harry asked, pushing his glasses up his nose as he sorted through some mail. "N.E.W.T. work piling up, I'm sure."

"Yeah, it is," he said distractedly. He had always had a very open relationship with his godfather and usually had no problem talking to him about anything. However, this just seemed so out of place from the usual "_What should I do with my life?"_ or "_How about those Harpies?"_ conversations that he was used to having with Harry. He took a deep breath. He just needed to spit it out.

"You and Celia still good?" Harry asked as he scanned through a letter he had just opened.

"Great." He nodded. "That's actually why I'm here."

Harry lowered the letter in his hand and stared at him, as if waiting for him to continue.

"I'm being responsible," he laughed awkwardly, "so…"

Harry sat down on the corner of the sofa and smirked at him. He looked as if he already knew what was coming.

"I wanted to make sure I was prepared," he continued, suddenly feeling as if he was sounding almost formal. "I was going to ask you…" He made a face. "This is awkward."

"Are you planning on having sex?" he asked with a casual glance back down to the letter in his hand.

"Yes," Ted said with an affirmative nod. "What you said."

Harry laughed a little. "Well, I'm glad you said something to me. I don't care if you do it, but I'd be doing your parents a disfavor is I let you go at it blindly." He stood and smiled a little. "At least you're not getting your information from your friends."

"Course not," Ted lied. "What do they know?"

"I take it you're planning on doing it over the holidays?"

"Umm…" he said with a sheepish little smile that made him feel as if he were five-years-old, "or maybe tonight. Not really sure, though."

Harry stared at him. "You're really waiting until the last minute."

"Better late than never," he said with a smile.

With that, Harry began to offer him all of the advice he could. It had been a good conversation and had made Ted thankful that he had someone like Harry in his life, who, as he grew older, treated him more as an equal rather than trying to forever view him as a child. That wasn't to say he didn't get father figure-y on him from time to time, but as far as the current matter at hand was concerned, he was thankful he hadn't.

After leaving Harry's, Ted found himself on Celia's street moments later, slowly walking towards her house. He felt as if he was prepared and ready to go, but now it was time for his nerves to kick in. He was excited, but also nervous. He wondered if everyone got like this or if it was just him over thinking things like he tended to do. What if he and Celia got into it and he just didn't know what he was doing? Worse yet, what if he was bad?

As he knocked on Celia's front door, he attempted to push those thoughts out of his head. He was slightly comforted by the fact that Celia had never done it either. If he did happen to do something stupid, she may not even realize. They were both starting out with a clean slate. There was no reason to worry so much.

She answered the door and smiled cheerfully. She looked cute with her hair pulled back and wearing what she had been wearing on the train home. "Always so punctual," she said, stepping aside to let him in.

"I try," he said as he entered and stood in the foyer. She shut the door behind him and smiled. He smiled back. They just stared at each other.

"This is weird…" she finally said.

"A little."

"You know, I wasn't looking to go straight to it," she said, making a very rare joke. "We're not on a schedule or anything."

He laughed a little. "No pressure."

"None at all." She took a few steps into the house. "I'm just happy you're here. I don't even care if we don't…" She trailed off.

He nodded and followed her into the living room.

"So, what do you want to do?" she asked as she sat on the sofa.

He forced his face to look blank; hoping his answer to that question wasn't completely obvious. "Doesn't matter," he said as he looked around the room. He absently started taking in all the details of the furniture that, up until this very moment, he hadn't noticed before.

"Are you hungry?"

He nodded. "I could eat."

She stood and gestured for him to follow her to the kitchen. He'd never been much of a cook, but Celia said she wasn't terrible. She offered to whip up something that she thought would be good, so as she did that, Ted kept her company and attempted to lend a hand.

She ended up making a sausage pie sort of dish that they both enjoyed as they sat down to eat. After they finished and cleaned up, they proceeded to spend time like they always did when they got together; knowing full well that eventually one thing would lead to another…Kissing led to touching, led to unzipping, which ultimately led to removing, and then, to everything in between.

In the heat of the moment, just before they went through with it, Celia stopped and looked at him. "Do you know what you're doing?"

"Yes," he mumbled, even though he was really thinking about how he didn't have the slightest clue. "Do you?"

"Not really," she said as she gestured towards the ground where her wand was lying idly by. "Hand me my wand so one of us can do the spells."

"Oh, so you do know them?"

"Of course, I know them," she said obviously. "Who doesn't know them?"

He chose not to answer that.

* * *

"So how was it?" Simon asked once they were off the train and back in their dorm room at school. Just as Ted had suspected, at the very first private moment the two of them had got without Celia being around, Simon had bum-rushed him with question after question. He'd been expecting it given the very particular looks that Simon had been giving him since King's Cross, but he knew Simon wouldn't dare ask with Celia around.

"Um, different," Ted said as he started rummaging through his trunk. "Like nothing I've ever experienced."

"What the hell does that mean?" Simon asked. "Come on, you have to tell me something more than that."

He smirked. "I don't have to tell you anything."

Simon looked horrified by the idea. "You wouldn't do that."

Ted sat on his bed and sighed. He knew Simon was curious, just as he had been, but now that he had done it, it seemed odd to talk about. It seemed private. Still, it wasn't fair to leave him completely in the dark. "Fine, I'll answer three questions right now, but that's it. Go."

"How was it?" he asked. "And none of this 'different' crap. How was it actually?"

"Weird at first, but it got better the more we did it." He grinned. "A lot better."

"How many times did you do it?"

"That counts as a question," he said as he thought about how to answer that. "Maybe three or four more times over the rest of break."

Simon stared at him, a smile playing as his mouth.

"Last question," Ted said. "Make it good."

"So, is it everything they say it is?"

"Yeah," he shrugged, "I mean I'm sure it's different for everyone, but I can understand the hype."

"Have things changes between you and her?"

"That's four questions."

"That's not about sex, though."

"We're about the same," he said. "A little more comfortable, I guess, but everything else is the same."

Simon nodded thoughtfully; seemingly satisfied with the answered he had received. However, it still didn't stop him from continuing to badger Ted with more questions on the subject whenever he got the chance. Thankfully for Ted, those chances were becoming few and far between. The pressure of N.E.W.T.s was growing more and more apparent now that they were only a few months away, and it seemed that being on this side of the Christmas holidays made them more daunting than when they'd been on the other side. At least now though, Ted had some new and pleasant thoughts to preoccupy himself with during particularly dull review lessons.

"Split up into groups of three," said Professor Holt, just as Ted snapped out of his current daydream in the middle of Potions class. "We're reviewing Confusing and Befuddlement Draughts and I barely have enough sneezewort to go around due to an accident with some of my fifth-years. You all will have to share, so split up."

"Lupin, you got a group?" asked David Thorpe, who was sitting at the table in front of him. "Lizzy and I need a third."

Ted glanced at Elizabeth Cole, who was currently rolling up her sleeves and opening her textbook. She turned to him and smiled. It was a smile that triggered the fourteen-year-old somewhere inside of him to get a little excited for nostalgia's sake.

"Lupin?" David said. "You awake?"

"What? Yeah," Ted said dazedly. He grabbed his chair and his supplies and pulled them over to their table. "Sorry."

"No big deal," David said before he started reading over Elizabeth's textbook with her. "With your marks as high as they are in here, I'd probably find myself sleeping through this class, too."

"I wasn't really sleeping," Ted said before he cracked his knuckles and looked over all the supplies on that table. Elizabeth and David were flipping through their book in an attempt to find the recipe instructions, but Ted felt as if he was fairly well versed in Befuddlement Draughts so that he didn't have to look it up. He grabbed his knife and a bundle of lovage before beginning to chop it.

"You actually remember how to make this off the top of you head?" David asked.

"Four parts lovage, three parts scurvy-grass," Ted began as if he was simply talking about the weather. "Then stir counter-clockwise eight times and let simmer for twenty minutes before adding a touch of sneezewort." He gestured towards the cauldron. "Then stir clockwise until you notice the reddish hue."

Elizabeth and David both stared at him.

"Umm," he realized that he probably sounded like he had just digested a textbook, "this sort of stuff just sticks with me, I guess."

"Jeez," David said with a small, but impressed sounding laugh. "I wish this stuff just stuck with me."

"That's really impressive," Elizabeth added. "Now I know who to bother when I need help studying for my Potions N.E.W.T."

"Seriously," David agreed. He turned back to Ted. "Here's hoping you plan on working with potions after you graduate. It'll be a walk in the park for you."

"That's the plan," Ted said modestly, just as the David and Elizabeth began to follow his lead by chopping lovage.

Ted chose to work mostly in silence. He always felt as if he was less likely to make mistakes when he gave his assignment his full concentration. Elizabeth and David, however, carried on talking as they worked on their end. He tried not to be nosy—he'd felt almost inclined to tell David that he was cutting his scurvy-grass too small—but he resisted to avoid sounding he was too much of a nit-picker. He'd already proven to be geeky potions know-it-all once, he didn't need to do it twice.

"I think Stu's getting sick," Elizabeth said to David.

"He cannot get sick," he said quickly. "If Stu gets sick, we don't have a Keeper for the match on Saturday."

"I keep telling him to go and see Madame Pomfrey," she said as started watching the way Ted was chopping. "He says he's fine."

"I'll talk to him," David mumbled. "He needs to know we can't afford to lose him against Gryffindor. If we win this, we're front runners for the cup."

"I know," she said lazily. "Trust me, I hear about it enough."

He laughed. "You can never hear about it enough."

"Oh, I promise you I can," she said before they both grew quiet for a long moment. "Do you bother Victoire with all this Quidditch talk?"

Ted glanced at David. He had shrugged and was now comparing the lengths of his scurvy-grass. "I try not too. She's obviously cheering for her house to win, so she doesn't want hear about how much I want Ravenclaw to pummel them."

"How are things with you two?" she asked.

"Good."

"Good." She smiled. "Glad to here it. You needed a nice girl after…" She trailed off and rolled her eyes.

"Don't start, Lizzy," he said in a heavy sort of way.

"I won't. I've said enough."

"Hey, I didn't tell you what happened over Christmas, though," he said with an awkward laugh. "You'll get a kick out of this."

"What?"

"So, I got her a couple gifts," he began. "We haven't been together that long, so I figured a few thoughtful things would be good, right?"

She hummed as if she agreed.

"Everything was fine, and I thought I did a damn good job until…" He laughed awkwardly again. "Here's where it gets bad. I got her these coconut candy things that I love and—"

Ted let out a snort of a laugh before he knew better. Both David and Elizabeth stopped and looked at him to see what was so funny.

"Sorry," he mumbled.

"No. What?" David asked.

"I just thought it was a little funny that you would get…" He stopped and realized that this was supposed to be none of his business. "I mean, she's just deathly allergic to coconut."

"You got her something she's deathly allergic to?" Elizabeth asked in amused disbelief. "And you didn't even know? Real cute, Dave."

"She didn't eat them," he said defensively. "She just picked one up and broke into it. Then her hand started swelling, so she had to take this potion stuff before it started spreading. I just didn't know…" He shook his head and looked at Ted. "Wait, how did you know?"

He made a face and thought back to when Victoire was three and had to be rushed to St. Mungo's after eating some coconut sweets. She had swollen up to the size of a balloon and no one had known what was wrong with her. She had been lucky that she had made it to the hospital in time.

"I just remember…" Ted said, suddenly thinking that he should downplay his connection to Victoire so as to not seem like some creep who just happened to remember these random things about her. "She and I grew up together."

"Really?" David asked.

He looked at him strangely. "She's never mentioned it?"

David shook his head. "Not that I remember. Then again, she never mentioned she was allergic to coconut either."

"Do you two talk about anything personal?" Elizabeth teased.

"No, we do," he said. "I know all about her family and how big it is. She talks about trips she's taken to Egypt and Paris and all that. We definitely talk, but I guess that just never came up."

Ted stared down at the ingredients in front of him. He found himself genuinely surprised that Victoire had not once mentioned their former friendship to her boyfriend. It seemed strange given how much history they had had. It was one thing for them to cut each other out of their lives, but how on earth did she manage to cut him out of her past, too?

"I wish I would have known," David said after a minute. "I would have asked you for some tips, Lupin."

"I'm probably not the best person to ask," Ted said as he started dumping his ingredients into the cauldron in front of them. "We don't really talk anymore."

"Yeah, but still…" he said, just as he and Elizabeth both dumped their ingredients in as well. "She's not allergic to anything else is she…?"

"Shouldn't you ask _her_ that?" Elizabeth asked, giving David a weary look. "You'd think that would have been one of the first things you would have done after nearly killing her once…"

As Ted left potions later that day, he found himself staring at Victoire for a little longer than he usually did. As usual, she wasn't paying any attention to him, but he still couldn't help but wonder how she hadn't even so much as mentioned him in passing to her boyfriend. He knew he had no right to be mad or upset, but it still didn't stop him from being a little bothered by it. Apparently, their friendship meant less to her than even he had thought.


	9. Bursting the Love Bubble

As the days of Ted's seventh year ticked by, he started to realize that once all was said and done, his most distinct memory from this year would end up being visions of staring into a textbook. As if he didn't study enough during a normal term, he now spent the majority of his free time cooped up in the Hufflepuff common room trying to memorize facts and details of the most mundane things imaginable.

When it came down to it though, he really only cared about his Potions, Herbology, Charms, and Transfiguration exams. Defense Against the Dark Arts was the least of his concerns, though he felt bad for admitting that, what with Harry having been so active in the subject and his own father having taught the subject at school. Ted wanted to care more about mastering it all, but he just didn't. He blamed Harry for restoring the peace in the world and therefore killing his interest.

That wasn't to say that he didn't find aspects of it fascinating. He had grown up as a kid who was fixated on learning everything there was to know about werewolves. Naturally, some parts interested him, though, his childhood obsession had tapered the older he got. He was still fascinated by werewolves, but it was in a different way now. Their habits and transformations had been what had hooked him as a kid, but the more he grew to learn, the more compelled he was to break down everything that made a werewolf a werewolf. He wanted to study the defective gene behind them and—idealistically—he wanted to cure it. He wanted to make sure people didn't have to suffer anymore. He wanted to do what people couldn't do for his father.

It had been during his fifth year, after some pre-O.W.L. practical career advice, that Ted had realized that in order to cure the werewolf gene, he had to go in the direction of healing rather than defense. For years, he had believed that he would get involved with werewolves first hand; monitoring their habits, teaching people how prevent being bit, informing them of how life could be lived if they were bit. It had all seemed like an obvious career decision. That was before he began researching the Wolfsbane Potion and the breakthroughs it had created for people since its inception. It was then that he realized that the most progress for werewolves hadn't come from the people who were trying to work with them face to face, but rather, the ones who were working in laboratories and attempting to alleviate their ailments. That was when he knew what he wanted to do with his life.

Many had assumed that he would simply follow the obvious path of becoming and Auror like Harry—like his mother. It was through Harry—who had been head of the Auror department since Ted was nine—that he had grown to know many Aurors. He had always been told he was smart enough and that his reflexes were sharp enough, not to mention his ability to change his appearance and disguise himself practically begged for him to become one. But his heart just wasn't in it.

Putting his life on the line and hunting dark wizards was never something he could fully see himself getting into. He had heard the stories that Harry told about the war and of the things he'd been through—the things Ted's and Harry's own parents had gone through, and what had ultimately gotten them all killed. While he had a great deal of respect for the people who could do this sort of thing, he just didn't feel like he was one of them. He thought that he was perhaps doing a disservice to his parents' memory by not following in their footsteps, but it was his own grandmother who had set him straight on the subject.

"You're your parents' son, Teddy," she had told him one day. "You're not your parents. They lived in a different world than you do now. They did what they had to do so that you could be free to do whatever you wanted."

"Still…" he said.

"No," she said quickly. "I was never a fan of your mother's plans to become an Auror. One, because it was dangerous, and two, because I'd grown up in a world where Aurors were considered bothersome, and although I now clearly realize they're not, the stigma stuck with me for some time."

Ted watched her as she spoke. His grandmother rarely ever talked about her family or her strict pure-blood upbringing. The upbringing she had rebelled against once she was old enough, and the family she had been disowned from once she married Ted's Muggleborn grandfather.

"I used to tell your mother that it would get her killed," she continued, her eyes welling with tears as they often did whenever she thought of her daughter's death. "I used to tell her she was bright enough to do so many things, why something so dangerous?"

He continued to watch her as she gathered herself and sniffled a little.

"But, she did it anyway, because that's the type of person your mother was. She always marched to the beat of her own drummer." She looked at him. "And while you're as bright as her, if not brighter, you've always been more mindful of things and far less reckless. Perhaps you get that from your father, I don't know…" She trailed off and sniffled once more. "The point is, your mother never felt the need to listen to me with what I thought she should do with her life, so I doubt she would be even the slightest bit surprised that you don't have a desire to follow her path." She smiled a little. "By doing what you want instead of what everyone else thinks you should do, you're more like you mother than you know."

He smiled at her as she stood up and smoothed out the creases in her robe.

"I will say though, that I fully support your desire to go into antidote research." She smiled. "Now, what I thought always meant little to your mum, but I do hope the case is a little different with you."

Hearing those words from his grandmother had meant a lot. Knowing that he had people around him who supported him in whatever he chose to do was a reassuring feeling. It made those hours of studying worth it if he knew he could achieve his goals and make the people who believed in him proud. Of course, it didn't make the hours of studying any less daunting. In a way, it only made the pressure to do well on his N.E.W.T.s more intense. But he tried not to think about that.

As it was, the last Hogsmeade trip of the year—and of Ted's career as a student—couldn't have come at a better time. Just when most of the seventh and fifth-years were ready to tear their hair out, they were granted one last chance to escape from the castle for a few hours. Not that many of them took the opportunity; instead deciding to stick to the castle and take advantage of the quiet, but Ted had decided to take the opposite approach and go…For his own sanity.

"It's so chilly," Celia said as a group of them trekked through Hogsmeade towards the Three Broomsticks pub.

"It looks like rain," Simon said as he observed the sky. "It's almost April, so you know it'll probably start raining all the time."

"It's warming up a little," Ted said once they reached the pub. He held the door open as the small group shuffled inside to warm themselves up.

"I'm just happy for the break from the castle," Maggie said. "I'm about to go mad."

"It's only going to get worse over the next month," Ted said, just as Celia grabbed his arm.

"I'll get us something to drink," she said, "if you want to go and find a table."

"Yeah, okay," he said, glancing around the pub. It was fairly empty given that it was still early. Most of the students were still milling around town and in the shops. He made his way to one of the larger tables in the back to sit down.

They spent most of the afternoon laughing and talking about everything and anything other than N.E.W.T.s. That was Celia's rule. Not one of them was allowed to bring the subject up or even make mention of them, or else they would find themselves being punched in the arm. She made good on that promise, too. Simon accidentally asked on what day the exams started, and seemed surprised when he got a fist to the shoulder.

"Want to go for a walk?" Celia asked Ted an hour later, once the pub had filled with noisy people.

He smiled. "I thought it was too chilly to walk? That's why you wanted to come here."

She shrugged and smiled. "Okay, you got me. I don't know, it's so noisy in here I can barely think. Plus, with things as mad as they are with school, we barely get any alone time."

"Fine by me," he said as he stood and waved to the rest of the table. "We're off."

"Where are you two going?" Simon asked.

"Just for a walk," he said as Celia stood too. "We'll see you back up at the castle."

The table murmured their goodbyes, but carried on with their own conversations as Ted grabbed Celia's hand and attempted to make his way through the crowd and out into the street. Once outside, the sky was already getting noticeably darker. Heavy cloud coverage was blocking out what little sun light there was.

"Anywhere in particular you want to walk to?" he asked.

"Not really," she said, stopping to quickly look in a shop window. Ted let her lead the way as they walked towards the edge of town. It was there that what was left of the last heavy snowfall remained. Just off in the distance, a group of people were having a snowball fight.

"You think that's the last of the snow for the year?" Ted asked, nodding towards the white patches on the ground.

"I'd say so," she said. "Like Simon said, now that it's almost April, we'll end up with more rain than snow."

"Yeah," he agreed, just as she let out a visible shiver. He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her. "You want to head back to the castle?"

"You don't care?"

"It's either that or stay here and stare at snow while—" He stopped. Something had suddenly pelted him in the back. He took a step away and turned his back towards Celia. "What was that?"

"I think someone threw a snowball at you," she said.

Ted looked off in the distance. The people having a snowball fight were still too far away to have hit him from where they were. There was no way they could have. "Did you see who—?" he began before another snowball nailed him directly on the side of the head.

"And you just keep standing there!" yelled a familiar sounding voice. "You're supposed to duck and cover!"

Ted turned towards the voice. Louis Weasley and another boy were peeking out from behind a large tree. They were both laughing as they stepped out into the open space and began walking towards them. Ted noticed that Louis had gotten taller since the last time he'd properly seen him up close, but given his now wet head, he figured he could still probably beat on him a little and get away with it.

"You're a prat, Lou," Ted called out to him as he started pulling snow out of his hair. 'That last one hurt."

"Sorry. I was aiming for your back again, but you moved." He smiled at Celia before turning back towards Ted. "Long time no see."

"Yeah," Ted said, trying his best to sound pleasant even though the side of his face was now sore and cold. "How you been?"

"Same old, same old," he said, just as several voices suddenly called his name from nearby. A moment later, a pair of girls came into view, each carrying a snowball of their own. Ted immediately recognized the blonde one as Dominique.

"Are we done?" she called to her brother.

"No, I'm just taking a break," he called back.

"Oh," she said as she recognized Ted. She grinned. "Hiya Teddy."

He smiled as she walked over and pushed him in what could only be described as Dominique's way of showing affection. "How you been, Nicki?"

"All right, I guess." She turned to Celia and waved. "Why, hello there."

"Hi," Celia said in a quiet sort of way.

Dominique smiled at her for a moment. "How are you?"

She seemed surprised at the question. "I'm well, thanks."

Dominique nodded before quickly shifting her snowball from one hand to the other. She looked at Louis. "You'll need to help me get Jack. He's hit me at least ten times and I can't seem to get him."

Louis laughed. "Jack's got stealth abilities or something." He glanced at Ted. "You two want to play?"

Ted shook his head. "Sorry Lou, I'm not a fourteen-year-old punk."

"Fifteen," he and Dominique said together, before Louis added. "Our birthday was last month."

"Forgetting about us already," Dominique said, faking disappointment. "Tsk, tsk, Teddy."

"Fifteen," Ted corrected. "Sorry. And it's not as if either of you remember my birthday."

"I know it's coming up soon," Dominique said, taking a few steps away. "Vic always used to make a big deal about it being in April. I also know you'll be eighteen, which is more than you knew about us."

He smiled at her. "You're clearly a better person than I am, Nicki."

"And don't you forget it," she teased. She suddenly chucked her snowball at him, which hit him square in the chest. She seemed surprised by the accuracy of her aim, and laughed as she started slowly edging herself away from him.

Ted glanced and Celia, who was looking back at him doubtfully. She seemed to be wondering what exactly he was planning to do next. He smiled at her before turning that smile onto Dominique. She was still edging herself away. A smart move on her part…

"You had better hope you've suddenly gotten a lot faster than me," Ted said before he abruptly took off after her. She let out a playful scream and took off running into a thicket of nearby trees where she managed to position a large tree in between the two of them.

"I think it's funny you really think you can outrun me, Nicki," Ted said as he methodically walked around the length of the tree to get to her. She kept one step ahead, though. Continuously checking to make sure the tree remained in between.

"Okay, okay, okay!" She laughed and threw up her hands in surrender. "I'm sorry. Just, don't do anything to me."

He pretended to consider this for a second once he met her face to face. "Yeah, since when has that ever worked?"

"Ted!" she yelled, just as he picked her up, slung her over his shoulder, and began carrying her over towards the snow bank. "Put me down!" she yelled again.

He smiled. "Okay." He walked over and dropped her into the thickest looking patch of snow he saw. "Now we're even."

"Ugggg, I'm all wet," she mumbled. At that same moment, Louis and his friend had appeared. They both began pelting her with snowballs as she lay on the ground.

"Don't hit your sister," Ted said as he picked up a handful of snow and plopped it on top of Louis's head. "It's not nice."

Louis groaned and attempted to kick snow back at him, but he easily dodged it by taking a few steps away. He was seconds away from throwing a few snowballs of his own, when Celia suddenly called out, "Hey, T.R! Can we go? I'm freezing."

"Oh," he said as he remembered she was still standing there. "Yeah, I'm done." He turned back towards Louis and threw his hands up. "I'm done."

"Lame," Louis said as he now began trying to pluck snow out of his hair.

"I'll see you around," Ted added before jogging back to where Celia was standing with her arms crossed. She was looking him up and down. She didn't seem half as amused as he had just been.

"You're soaking wet."

"Yeah, but," he grinned and pointed behind him, "it was fun."

"Looked like it," she said in an unconvincing tone.

"You should have joined us."

She laughed uneasily. "Something tells me I would have ended up hurt." She glanced over her shoulder. "I would end up taking a snowball to the head on behalf of their sister or something."

"What do you mean?"

"You know," she said as they walked, "since Victoire hates me, I'm sure her sister or her brother would have taken pleasure getting me in some way."

He shook his head in disbelief. "No, they're not like that. They know that's Victoire's deal and not theirs. I mean, if you knew them, you'd know that they're completely different from Victor—"

"Still," she interrupted, "you had to see how uncomfortable that was for me. Just the way they were looking at me…" She trailed off. "They may pretend to be nice, but I bet they secretly hate me because of their sister. I can just feel it."

Ted considered this on the way back to the castle. Louis and Dominique hadn't been anything but nice and polite to her, even going so far as to invite her to join in on their snowball fight. They could have easily shown their allegiance to their sister and been rude, but they hadn't. In fact, they'd never given him any reason to believe that they had anything against Celia. Yet here she was telling him that she had felt it. Had he missed something?

He assumed at the time that Celia was just stressed from exams and was over thinking things, so he decided to ignore what she had said. However, a week later, he had found himself wondering the same thing once again. This time though, he couldn't find it in himself to ignore it.

It had happened when Dominique had punched him in the shoulder—hard. Harder than her usual greeting, which he assumed meant she was still a little bitter about being dropped in the snow. Once he stopped to talk to her though, Celia had claimed—rather adamantly—that they had somewhere to be, when in all reality they didn't. It was then, for the first time, that Ted had got the distinct impression that Celia was trying to distance him from someone. He didn't understand why she would, since Dominique was practically like a sister to him, but Celia was acting as if she was uncomfortable in her presence. It was all very strange.

"You know what's weird…" Ted told Simon later that very day in their dorm room. He recounted the entire incident with Dominique to him. "It's like she afraid of Dominique or something."

"Well," Simon said as he searched around in his trunk for a towel, "she's a connection to Victoire. Celia's afraid of anything that has to do with Victoire."

Ted sighed. "She is not."

He laughed to himself and mumbled, "Right."

"She doesn't like Victoire because she heard her Victoire say she didn't like her. You can't blame her for that."

"And you really think Celia didn't have her mind made up about Victoire before that fight you two had?"

Ted made a face. "She didn't hate Victoire before that."

He rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say."

"You think she did?"

"Um…" He made an overly obvious face. "Yeah, I do."

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't you remember Victoire telling you how she thought Celia didn't like her?" he asked. "Because she told me a few times, and she even mentioned that she told you. You didn't seem to care. You kept claiming Cee was just shy."

Ted stared at him. Victoire having said something to him along those lines rang a distant bell in his head.

"Look," Simon continued, "the past is the past and nothing's changing, but I will say this. From what I saw on the outside of your little love bubble," he made a large gesture with his finger in the shape of a bubble around Ted, "was that Celia wasn't exactly innocent in all of this. She didn't like Victoire and Victoire didn't like her, but when Cee saw some cracks in your friendship, don't think she didn't take that opportunity to be rid of her."

"She did not," Ted said, though he didn't sound entirely confident.

Simon slung his towel over his shoulder and began walking towards the door. "Sure. She wasn't the one drilling you night after night as to why you two should drop your lifelong friendship over a couple of arguments. She's not the one who's going mental if you so much as talk to Victoire's sister." He gave Ted a knowing look before he left.

Ted lay back on his bed and began running over the events that Simon had just mentioned. Had he really not picked up on Celia's dislike of Victoire and played it off as Celia being shy and standoffish? Did she really not want anything to do with her after all? Had he really actually missed all of this because he was too far up his own arse defending his relationship?

"Shit…" he mumbled out loud as he continued to think. If this was in fact the case, then Victoire had been right. She had been right to be paranoid about Celia's behavior and she had been right to feel as if Celia was trying to edge her out of his life. If Celia really hadn't liked Victoire since before their argument, then everything she had said those nights in the common room about Victoire being dead wood and about people growing and changing had been her attempt at furthering the wedge between him and Victoire.

He continued to stare up at the ceiling. Perhaps if Victoire hadn't been so snotty in the way she talked about Celia, then he could have taken her more seriously. Sure, the more he thought about it, the more he realized he had been a prat, but it wasn't as if Victoire was completely innocent either. He was standing by that. It wasn't as if Victoire had pleaded her case in the most sympathetic way.

Then there was the matter of Celia. If this was all true, then why had she done it? What was the point? He knew her well enough to know that she wasn't a malicious person, and there was no way she would have done this just because she felt like it. There had to be a reason. Had Victoire done something to her that he hadn't known about? It just didn't make sense.

A half an hour later, Simon returned from the showers and found Ted lying in the same spot he had been in before. They exchanged quick looks before Simon climbed into his own bed and began to draw the curtains.

"Should I try to talk to her?" Ted asked.

"Who?"

He was silent for a moment. He wasn't even sure if he had meant Victoire or Celia. He needed to know Celia's side of the story and whether or not he had been wrong all along before he could talk to Victoire. If he had been wrong, then he actually had a reason to talk to Victoire. If he hadn't been wrong, then he obviously didn't.

"Celia. Should I ask her about everything?"

Simon shrugged. "I think it'd give you some peace of mind."

Ted sat on that thought for several days as school once again became too hectic for him to think of little else. One thing he had always prided himself on was his ability to compartmentalize his life in a way that he didn't let his problems in one facet spill over into others. However, now, as he sat next to Celia in Transfiguration and watched as she practiced turning cats into various other objects, he couldn't seem to do that. He couldn't concentrate until he knew.

"Can I ask you something?" he asked her.

"Yes, of course." She smiled as her cat turned into a chalice.

"It's just something I've been wondering," he said as he watched her change the chalice into a candlestick. "When you first met Victoire, did you not like her?"

She lowered her wand mid-cast and started at him. "I don't remember. Why?"

"You remember," he said. He knew her all too well. She never forgot a face and she had a memory like a steel trap.

"Um," she said as if she was trying her hardest to remember, "I don't think I was really fond of her because of who she chose as friends, but I didn't dislike her. Why?"

He nodded as he considered this. "I was just thinking about things. I got to wondering."

She stared at him. She looked a little hesitant. "About what?"

He picked up his own wand and pointed it at the candlestick. It quickly turned back into a cat. "If perhaps I should try talking to her. Victoire, I mean." He glanced at her to gauge her reaction.

"Why would you do that?" she said, fidgeting in her chair.

"I don't know," he said as he took notice of how agitated she became. "I was just thinking about it. It's been a long time."

"I thought you moved past this?" she asked as their cat scurried across the table and hopped down to the floor.

"I have," he said, "but I don't know. I think that maybe I want to talk to her again."

She stared at him apprehensively, but didn't say anything else. In fact, she didn't speak for the rest of the lesson, and once the class was excused, she had mumbled a hasty goodbye before rushing off to her next lesson. Given her reaction, she didn't seem at all interested at the prospect of him talking to Victoire again. Not that he was surprised since both she and Victoire had made their opinions of each other quite clear. Still, he wasn't convinced that Celia had somehow masterminded the end of his friendship with her.

Then there was the matter of what would happen if he did manage to fix things with Victoire. Would Celia hate him? Would she want to split up? The drama with Victoire aside, he still cared about Celia and didn't want to lose her. He knew that if Victoire and he did somehow manage to rectify things that she and Celia were not becoming friends anytime soon….But he was getting ahead of himself. He wasn't even sure if Victoire would even want to talk to him again.

On the very same day that Ted had talked to Celia, he had decided to at least try to say something to Victoire after his Potions lesson that afternoon; something along the lines of a polite greeting or the likes. He could gauge her to see how she reacted. If she spit in his face or cursed him on the spot, then he'd at least have a pretty fair idea of how bad things really were. If she didn't, then perhaps things were still fixable.

So that afternoon, as he exited Potions, he scanned the hall as he usually did in search of her, but she surprisingly was no where to be found. She wasn't there after the following lesson either, or the lesson after that. It seemed as though she had stopped coming altogether. His curiosity as to where she'd gone had almost got the better of him when he came close to asking David Thorpe about where she'd gone, but the inquiry probably would have felt strange and out of place. David and he weren't exactly friendly enough to pry into each other's personal business like that.

An answer to Ted's question didn't come until days later, as he sat in the common room with the other seventh-year Hufflepuffs cramming in some study time. They were pulling out all the stops for their exam preparations, and it was evident that people were starting to crack under the pressure. Julia Summers was dealing with her stress by interrupting everyone else with random stories and observations as they tried to study; anything that distracted her from actually working.

"Oh, I'm sure you two will get a kick out of this," Julia said as she gestured to Ted and Celia. "Guess what I heard today?"

Celia looked up from her work. "What?"

"I heard that Victoire Weasley and Tom Haines have been fooling around in the library." She laughed. "They claim they're studying for O.W.L.s, but rumor has it they're doing a lot more than just studying. A lot more. _A lot, a lot more_ if you know what I mean. You do know what I mean, right?"

"I think people up in the North Tower knew what you meant," Simon said dryly. "We get it."

"I thought she was dating David Thorpe?" asked Maggie.

"Apparently, they split up."

"Was it over this?" Maggie asked.

Julia shrugged as if she didn't know, but her face seemed to say that she suspected this was the likely cause.

"Do you girls do anything but gossip?" Simon asked. He picked up his book and placed it in front of his face.

"Why on earth would anyone choose to hook up with Tom over David?" Maggie asked. "Do you think she cheated on him?"

Julia laughed. "Would you be surprised?"

Celia said, "No," just as Ted said, "Yes." Everyone at the table looked up at him. Simon even lowered his book to smirk at him.

"Sorry, I just don't believe she'd do that," Ted said matter-of-factly.

"Surprise, surprise…" Celia muttered under her breath.


	10. Setting Things Right

After Ted's comments in defense of Victoire, Celia continued to be short with him for the next few days. She claimed it was stress and that N.E.W.T.s were starting to get to her, but Ted really didn't believe that. He didn't want push the matter further than he had to though, and instead tried to be more cheerful around her in an attempt to get her to relax a bit. She simply needed to take her mind off of things. Her being stressed was starting to stress him out more than exams were.

"Let's go for a walk," Ted suggested upon leaving the Great Hall after lunch one day. "It's a nice day out."

Celia hesitated. She looked as if she was trying to rack her brain for things she may have needed to take care of what with exams being so close, but she slowly smiled and nodded. "I guess I could use a bit of a break."

"You and me both," he said.

They made their way outside and onto the grounds, where plenty of students were lounging about and enjoying their weekend. As he watched them, he suddenly wished for the less stressful days of the past. The days when he was just a little second-year without a care in the world. Celia suddenly took his hand and began leading the way towards the lake. Perhaps her mood would brighten if they visited one of their favorite spots.

"I can't wait for exams to be over," Ted said as they walked. "Then we'll be done with school and we'll have the whole summer to do whatever we want to do. He smiled at her playfully, hoping that she knew he was insinuating sex. "As many times as we want to do it…"

She laughed a little. "Yes, I know what you want to do."

"It's just so hard to do it around here," he said gesturing towards the castle. And it was hard. Privacy wasn't something that came easy to find at Hogwarts, as Ted had learned the hard way. The places they did manage to find were usually cold and drafty and not very romantic or mood sustaining.

"Well, we've got all summer," she said as they walked along the bank of the lake. "We can do it all day, everyday once one of us gets our own place."

Ted stopped and stared at her as if she'd just told him Christmas had come early. "Wait, seriously?"

She threw him a funny smile before dropping his hand and setting out several feet in front to examine some rocks where the shoreline met the forest. "We'll have to see if I can pass my exams first, of course." She picked up a rock and tossed it into the water. "Transfiguration is going to kill me."

"You'll do fine," he said as he followed her across the leafy underbrush of the forest.

She stared at him. "Tell me you're at least a little nervous? You always seem so calm."

"I am nervous," he said. "I'm terrified actually, but I just hide it better, I suppose. Take Potions, for example. My entire career depends on me passing that exam with the highest marks possible."

"You're good at Potions, though," she said as they approached the edge of the forest. "You shouldn't have to worry about your N.E.W.T."

He sighed and suddenly felt a pang of nerves the more he thought about it. "I'll worry about it until it's over. I just wish it was over already."

"Soon enough," Celia said in an encouraging sort of way, as if she was trying to make herself believe it. She turned and began searching down the shoreline. Suddenly, her face fell.

"What's wrong?" Ted asked as he kicked a rock into the lake and turned to follow her gaze. It only took him a second to realize why her face had fallen so quickly. Victoire was sitting against a large tree about thirty yards away. She was by herself and staring out at the lake in a vacant sort of way.

"We should turn around," Celia said.

He stared at her for a second before glancing back at Victoire. "What if something's wrong?"

"It's none of our business," she said, taking a few steps in the opposite direction. He didn't follow, though. Something inside of him was telling him not to. What if something was wrong?

"I'm going to go and check," he said.

"Why!?" Celia asked in a tone that was louder than before. She seemed surprised that he would even be considering this.

"I'll be right back," he said quickly. "I just want to make sure she's okay."

She made a noise of disapproval, but said nothing as he set off to where Victoire was now sitting with her head between her knees. He stared at her for a long moment before anxiously stuffing his hands into his pockets. He swallowed hard. "Hey."

She seemed startled by his voice, and looked up at him with tear stained cheeks and bloodshot eyes that certainly indicated something was wrong. She didn't return the greeting, but merely glanced towards Celia. She was still standing in the same spot as before, looking extremely annoyed as she paced in a small circle.

"How are you?" he asked nervously once she turned back to him.

"Fine," she said coldly.

"You don't look fine."

"Look again, then," she said in the same cold tone.

He nodded. He knew he probably deserved the attitude, but he took a deep breath and pressed on. "I know it's been awhile, but if something was wrong, you know I'm still here to—"

"Are you?" she asked as her tear-filled eyes drilled into his. "Because last time I checked, the last thing you said to me was how I needed to mind my own damn business and that you didn't care about whatever it was I thought?"

He sighed. That had been the last thing he had said to her. It wasn't until he had heard it repeated back to him that he realized just how harsh he had sounded.

"T.R," called Celia. "Come on!"

"You'd better go," Victoire said bitterly. "I'd hate for my mere presence to cause yet another rift in your relationship."

He continued to stare at her. She obviously didn't want to talk to him, but for some reason, that didn't bother him. As he stared down at her, she looked so small and sad. He couldn't help but somehow feel responsible, just as he had when they were younger. Just like always, watching Victoire cry triggered some sort of innate response in him that made him want to want to fix things. He knew that this time though, there was only one way to fix things.

He turned away and started walking back toward Celia. She smiled as he drew nearer, seemingly relieved to see him returning so quickly.

"I need to talk to her," he said. "I don't know how long it's going to take, so you may want to go back up to school."

Her mouth dropped. "You're serious?"

He nodded.

"Why?" she asked. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because I have to," he said honestly.

Her expression grew angry as her eyes narrowed. However, when she spoke, her voice was surprisingly coy. "Please don't do this."

"We'll talk about it later," he said with a reassuring smile before turning back towards where Victoire sat. Her head was down between her knees again, and he took yet another deep breath as he sat down next to her. She looked up at him in complete shock.

"We need to talk," he said without looking at her. He couldn't bring himself to look at her quite yet. He picked up a small twig on the ground and began absently breaking it in his hand in order to channel his nervous energy.

"I thought you had…" She pointed towards the spot where Celia and he had just been standing.

"I just went to tell her that I needed to talk to you and that she may want to head back up to school without me."

He could feel her staring at him. "Why?" she asked.

"Because I think we needed to talk."

"I told you I was fine."

"Yeah, you obviously seem like it."

"What does it matter?" she asked as she turned away. "Since when did you start caring again?"

He didn't say anything. He broke the stick in his hand once more.

"Trust me," she continued. "Whatever you're trying to prove here by doing your good deed for the day, or whatever it is, it isn't going to achieve anything and isn't worth the lecture you're going to get from Celia. Just go."

"Yeeeah…" He thought of Celia's expression moments earlier and how angry she was probably going to be. "I probably am going to hear about this later."

"Wish I could say I was sorry about that," she said with a slight smirk.

"I know, I know. You think I'm a prat."

She looked at him again. "Well, you said it, not me."

"Fair enough," he said. He realized that they could go on like this all day unless he tried to make a point as to why he had come over here. "But you know, I was thinking about you the other day," he broke the stick once more, "and about how shitty things are between us now, and I realized that I did the same thing to you that I always gave you shit about doing to me."

She stared at him.

"I mean, when you started hanging out with those stupid girls," he made a face, "I gave you so much shit about ditching me and only caring about what they thought…About becoming one of them. Then, I would sit there and tell you how much I disliked them, but when I started dating Celia, and when you did exact same thing to me, instead of trying to work through it, I just gave up."

"Sounds about right."

He bit his tongue out of frustration. "I'm trying to apologize. This isn't easy."

"Well, neither is spending the last year having people think that you're the bad guy in all of this," she spat. "Having people just assume that I'm a bitch who needs to bash their friend's girlfriend for no good reason, other than I'm just a mean and hateful person."

"I know, and a lot of that was Celia's fault for pushing that."

Her jaw dropped.

"I'm not saying I agree with your opinion of Celia," he continued. "Obviously that's not the case. I've just realized that she didn't help things between us much when things were falling apart."

She gave a short, derisive laugh. She'd clearly figured that out a lot soon than he had.

"I've realized some things about her in respect to all of this over the last few weeks," he continued, clearing his throat. "But anyway, this isn't about her. This is about us."

"Is there even an _'us'_ anymore, Ted?" she asked as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. It was strange to hear her call him Ted, since it had been so long since he'd heard her utter his name. "Is there anything worth saving from this friendship if you and she are going to keep dating? When you're around her, you're not even the same person I used to know."

He stared at her and hoped she didn't really feel as though there was nothing to be saved. "I like to think there is," he said quietly. "We've got so much history. I'd really hate to throw that away, Vic."

She blinked and made a strange face. He wondered if she was having a similar reaction to hearing him call her by the nickname he'd used since he could talk; the nickname that had stemmed from his inability to pronounce her name when he was smaller.

"Celia and I will never get along," she said finally.

"I know that. I'm not asking you to. I'm asking you to get along with me."

She stared at him.

"Look, I know I was a little punch-drunk in love or whatever you want to call it for awhile there when she and I started dating. I was a bit much to deal with—"

"A bit?"

He pursed his lips. "Okay, I was a different person that was horrible for you to be around. Happy?"

"Yes, actually."

He sighed. She wasn't going to make this easy. "You've got to cut me a little slack here, Vic. I mean, you weren't exactly a treat to be around when Colleen and Aspeth were breathing down your neck trying to turn you into one of their mindless clones." He took a deep breath and decided to push his luck. "That is, if they haven't succeeded."

She looked as if she could have hit him. He wasn't about to put it past her at the moment.

"I'm just saying," he said quickly, so as to avoid getting smacked, "that we both have been a bit much sometimes. We've both made dumb mistakes and I'm willing to forgive and forget because of how much I miss you being around."

He looked out towards the lake as he said that. He hadn't meant to say he had missed her, since he hadn't yet fully admitted to himself that he did. He'd only convinced himself that he had done wrong and that he needed to set things right. The words had just slipped out.

"Whether you feel the same way," he continued, now feeling a little embarrassed and trying to cover his tracks. "I don't know. For all I know, you're happy to be rid of me."

She didn't say anything right away. She just stared out towards the lake as if she was thinking things over. He knew that she could easily tell him to go to hell and that life was a lot better off without him in it, but he really would have rather not heard that.

"You know that's not true," she said finally.

He slowly smiled as a huge weight lifted off of his chest. "Well, that's a relief. I was afraid I might have had to beg."

"You would have begged?"

"I've been known to do some pretty stupid things, but since you've already forgiven me, I guess we'll never know."

She laughed for the first time, which was a refreshing change of events from the glaring and sniffling. She took a deep breath and stared at him. In that moment, it seemed like things were normal again. Or at least that they soon could be.

"It's weird to be talking to you again," she said.

"It's weird that you called me Ted. Only you, my Grams, and Harry and his family call me that these days."

"I'm never going to call you T.R," she said matter-of-factly.

He laughed. "I prefer you calling me Ted, to be honest. It'd be weird if you didn't."

She smiled. "Glad that's cleared up, then."

He smiled as well before looking up towards the castle. "I should probably go and make sure I still have a girlfriend."

Victoire bit her lip, but her expression already spoke the words he knew she wouldn't dare say. They had just made up. She wasn't gutsy enough make a sarcastic comment yet.

"Be nice," he said as he stood up. "I'm not asking for you two to talk or have anything to do with each other. Just, for me, be nice. Don't make it harder than it already is."

"Is she going to be nice?"

"I'll talk to her," he said as he reached out his hand to help her up. "Same rules apply. I've come along way since a year ago."

She smiled and took his hand, allowing him to pull her up. "I'll be the judge of that."

They both walked back up to school together, catching up on random topics and what else was going on in their lives. Nothing too personal, because things were still readjusting to the way they once were. He asked about how her parents were doing, and she asked about his grandmother. He even chanced a joke about Colleen that she seemed to find much funnier than he anticipated she would, but he didn't ask why. It was just nice to be talking again.

Upon reaching the castle, they said their goodbyes and went their separate ways; she to Gryffindor Tower, while he found himself walking around the corridors on his own for awhile, avoiding the inevitable. He knew he should just go and face the music with Celia, but he was dreading it. Then again, perhaps she wouldn't be that mad? Maybe she wouldn't care? Maybe he was entirely overreacting. He had almost convinced himself that this was the case until he entered the Hufflepuff common room and was met by an unmistakable look of aggravation on Celia's face. It was fairly evident that she most certainly did care.

"So, you don't care that she hates me?" she asked in an angry whisper as the pair stood in a corner of the common room hashing things out. "That doesn't bother you?"

"I'm not asking you to be friends with her," Ted said as he looked her in the eyes. "I'm not choosing her over you, Cee. Just because I've set things right with Victoire, it doesn't mean she and I are going start hanging out every second of the day. I just…" He sighed. "I just wanted to fix things."

"If you don't plan on being her friend, than what's the point of making up?" she asked.

Just then, Simon suddenly entered the common room and began walking towards the pair of them. Ted caught his eye and shook his head rapidly, all while making a face that said, "_You don't want to come over here_." Simon stopped mid-step upon noticing this. He turned to walk the other way.

"Well?" she whispered.

"Because, I do want to be her friend," he whispered back. "I can be someone's friend without having to see them everyday. I just felt like making up with her was something I needed to do."

"But why? You've yet to explain this to me."

"You've yet to explain to me why you're so adamant about she and I having nothing to do with each other."

"Because she hates me!"

"What about before that?" he asked. "Before she and I fought and before you heard her say that."

Celia gaped and stammered a little. "Because we didn't get along…"

"So, because you two don't get along, I have to choose between you?" he asked, his tone growing annoyed. "We couldn't have worked out something? It was one or the other? How is that fair to me?"

She looked away and suddenly looked as if she could cry.

"Cee," he said as he put his hands on her shoulders, "just be honest with me."

"It was like you two were dating," she said bluntly. "We're together, but with her around, it's as if suddenly there's this other girl who will always know you better than I do, who has a million more memories with you than I do, who you'll always be more loyal to—"

He looked at her incredulously. "We're you not there when I picked you over her? Did you miss that? Do you know how hard that was for me?"

She looked away. When she spoke, her voice was barely audible. "If you two manage to become as close as you used to be and something similar happened," her voice broke, "I don't think you'd make the same choice."

He looked as if she'd just slapped him across the face. "You really think that?"

A tear ran down her cheek. "I don't know what to think, Ted."

He watched her. He was torn between a desire to hold her and a desire to let her stand there and cry, simply because he thought he could get more answers that way. He couldn't even remember the last time he had heard her call him Ted. It was almost as odd as hearing Victoire say it earlier.

"You want me to admit that Victoire intimidates me?" she asked with a sniffle. "Fine, I admit it. She's practically perfect in every way and you two have this bond that shuts everyone else out. It's scary."

"First of all, she's not perfect," he began as he started counting off on his fingers, "far from it. Second of all, yes we have a bond, but then again, you and I have one as well. Third—" He stopped and realized he didn't really have a third. "You need to stop worrying that Victoire's going to come between us."

"It's just hard to accept that you would have her in your life, and yet you'd choose me," she said as another tear ran down her cheek.

"Oh, for Merlin's sake…" he mumbled. "I care about you, Cee. I want to be with you. Victoire is," he waved his hand dismissively, "just Victoire. That's it. Nothing more. Nothing less." He watched as another tear rolled down her cheek and took a deep breath. "You have to be honest with me, because if you're going to keep doubting me just because I want to be her friend again, then I don't know how much I can take."

She stared at him.

"You have to trust me to be honest with you," he continued. "If you don't, we've got nothing."

"I wish this didn't bother me as much as it did," she said honestly.

"Me too," he said, "but I'm not going to do anything to hurt you."

She took a deep breath and nodded as Ted pulled her closer and hugged her. She looked up at him. "She and I are never going to get along."

"I know," he said as sudden strange feeling of déjà vu began crept over him. "I'm not asking you to."

* * *

A/N: I'd bet Ted isn't the only one experience déjà vu, here. :) This chapter marks the first of the duel scenes that are in both Ted's and Victoire's stories. Obviously there are more to come now that the stories are going to start over lapping more. They're definitely interesting to write, particularly since when I wrote "AYitL" I only had a general idea of what was in Ted's head at the time during all those interactions. Expanding on them had kind of been a fun challange. One with some unexpected results at that... :) But that's all for part two.


	11. The End of the Beginning

After an excruciating week of all night study sessions, sleep loss, and anxious last minute cramming, N.E.W.T.s had come and gone. Ted had finally finished his exams; every single one of them. The hardest part was over. Now, all he had to do was wait.

"How do you think you did?" Simon had asked after their final exam, which happened to be Charms.

"Pretty well, actually," Ted said. "I feel good about it. I feel good about all of my exams. Well, minus Defense Against the Dark Arts, but I didn't study as hard as I should have."

"I think I did okay in that," Simon said, searching through his bag for his notes. "It's just that I need Charms to get the job at the Ministry that I want. If I didn't get at least an 'E' I'm going to have to start looking for something else." He made a panicked face. "What if I have to—"

"I'm sure you're fine," Ted said, though he sympathized with Simon. He'd be lying if he said he hadn't been scouring his Potions notes the second after that exam had ended; double checking every answer to make sure it matched up to what he had put. He knew full well that if he got anything less than an 'O' on it, he might as well consider a whole new profession. That wasn't something he was prepared to do.

Thankfully, he didn't have to wait long for an answer. Two weeks after N.E.W.T.s had occurred, and just days before graduation, Ted had been sitting in the Great Hall eating breakfast when Auggie had flown in with the morning post. The white snow owl dropped two letters in front of Ted before staring at him expectantly from the tabletop. Cocking his head to one side, he eyed the piece of toast that Ted was currently holding.

"Are you ever not going to try to steal my breakfast?" Ted asked before handing him the crust. Auggie took it eagerly, just as Ted turned to open his first letter. He scanned it quickly and saw that it was from Harry. He'd written to say that he and Ginny had made plans so that they both could be at graduation, and then followed by mentioning that they were planning on throwing him a party for finishing everything.

He internally groaned. He wasn't much of a party person, seeing as he'd never enjoyed being the center of attention. It didn't seem as though he had much of a choice in the matter, though. He had to admit, it was a thoughtful gesture on their part.

He turned his attention back to another piece of paper that had been included in the letter and smiled as he observed a drawing of a dragon that had clearly been done by Lily. She was becoming obsessed with dragons it seemed. given that this was the third one she'd sent him over the last month. He couldn't help but notice that her drawings were getting much better.

He grabbed at the other envelope, which had the seal of St. Mungo's on it. He had applied to their program in antidote research about a month ago, so he assumed that this was just some sort of follow up paperwork to keep things in order. He wasn't bound to hear anything official until his N.E.W.T. scores were marked sometime over the summer.

"Hey," Simon said as he sat down across from him and helped himself to toast. "You were up early."

"Yeah, I don't know why," Ted mumbled as he read over the letter.

Simon picked up the dragon drawing and began examining it. "Lily drew you another dragon?"

Ted nodded. He was only half paying attention now that he had gotten to the body of the letter. As it turned out, it wasn't excess paperwork that they needed him to fill out. It wasn't any of the preliminary things he had thought he still needed to do in order to be considered for training. It was an acceptance letter. They had accepted him.

"You know, I think I'm not going to do thing today," Simon said. "Not a damn thing. What about you?"

"I'm in," Ted said, looking up at him. "They've accepted me."

Simon cocked his eyebrow. "It's far too early for me to pretend that I know what you're talking about. How about you just tell me?"

"At St. Mungo's. The research position. Curing diseases and creating antidotes," he smiled, "they've accepted me."

"You're serious?" Simon asked as he grabbed at Ted's letter. "There's no way your N.E.W.T.s have been scored yet."

"I know," he said, leaning forward and pointing to the part of the letter that stated he had been accepted, "but there it is."

"You're kidding me," Simon muttered. "Look at that. You know, they must have gotten your scores early or something. That probably means you must have done really well on them. There's no way otherwise."

Ted smiled and pounded his fists on the table out of excitement. "You have no idea how much of a relief this is to read."

"No, I think I do. Congrats."

"I'm going to go and write my Grams and Harry and anyone else I can think of," he said as he tucked another piece of toast in his teeth and stood up. "I'll see you later."

Simon gave him a quick wave before Ted made his way back towards the Hufflepuff common room, happily chewing his toasts as he went. He'd done it. He'd actually done it. He'd actually gotten the job that he had been dreaming of in one way or another since he was a kid. He couldn't wait to hear everyone's reaction once they found out.

He had been practically running through the portrait hole when he came face to face with Celia and her friends on their way out. She smiled when she saw him.

"Hey, we were just headed to breakfast—" she began before Ted cut her off mid sentence and kissed her. He pulled away and smiled at her. She stared at him as if she'd been taken completely off guard. "What's gotten into you?"

"I got the job at St. Mungo's," he said as he started walking back towards his dormitory.

"Seriously?!" she asked.

"Yeah," he called behind him. "I'll tell you about it later. I want to get letters to my Grams and Harry in the post as soon as I can."

She smiled. "That's fantastic!"

He smiled at her once more before disappearing down the hallway towards his room. He sat and scribbled out two almost identical letters before sealing them up and rushing to the owlery. Having dashed the entire way there; he finally stopped himself to catch his breath once the two owls he had attached letters set off towards the horizon line. As he watched them, he suddenly felt tremendously elated. In just two weeks time, he'd be starting his career.

He took his time walking back from the owlery. Feeling uncharacteristically giddy, he felt as though nothing could kill his bad mood. Not even once he found himself running into an overwhelmingly large crowd of Ravenclaws and Gryffindors on their way back from breakfast. He maneuvered his way against the flow of traffic on the crowded stairs and had almost managed to reach the final landing when he spotted Victoire talking with a small group of people. He hadn't spoken to her much since that day by the lake, but given his good mood and current circumstances, he couldn't be happier to see her.

"Hey Vic," he called out as he made his way down the final set of stairs to where she was standing. She turned and searched for the source of her name. She seemed surprised when she noticed him approaching.

"Hi," she said with a curious expression. The second she got a good look at his face, she slowly started to smile. "Why are you so happy?"

"Guess what?" he asked. He was completely incapable of hiding his smile.

"What?"

"I got into the training program over at St. Mungo's," he said in one quick breath. "The antidote research one. I just got the letter saying I did. I start in two weeks."

Her eyes went wide before she broke into a wide grin. "Congratulations!" She leaned forward and hugged him. He almost found it a little strange, seeing as they had never been huggers in the past, but some things were bound to have changed over the past year. "Wow, Ted. You're going to go and cure the werewolf gene just like we always talked about."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," he said, taking a deep breath and bouncing a little on the spot. He really couldn't believe he was letting himself get so visibly excited, but it was only Victoire after all. She didn't care.

"Oh, you will," she said. "You must be so excited. This is what you've always wanted."

"I am pretty excited," he said, just as Louis Weasley appeared beside the both of them.

"Come on," Louis said to his sister. "You said you'd help me with—" He stopped when he noticed Ted standing there. He looked curiously from him, to Victoire, and then back again. "You two are talking again?"

"Yes," Victoire said as Ted nodded. "Are you really surprised, Louis?"

He looked to consider this for a second, but made a face that seemed to say he wasn't. He shrugged. "Whatever. Anyway, come on, Vic."

"Right," she said as she threw Ted a quick smile. "Again, congratulations. I'm really happy for you."

Ted smiled appreciatively

"For what?" Louis asked.

"Ted's gone and got himself the job of his dreams."

Louis nodded as though he was impressed. "Good on you. Congratulations."

"Thanks," Ted said as a sudden thought struck him. "Hey," he pointed at both of them, "Harry's throwing me a graduation party after school's let out. Sort of a send off if you will. I'd love if you two came. Nicki, too, of course."

"Yeah, sure," Louis said before Victoire could protest. She didn't look nearly as eager to accept as he did.

"Maybe," she said tentatively.

"Why maybe?" Louis asked.

"I mean, I don't know," she said as she looked away from the both of them. Ted was fairly sure he already knew what she was thinking. She wouldn't want to come because of Celia.

"At least think about it," Ted said. "I really want you to come, Vic."

She looked reluctant to say anything, but finally mumbled, "I'll think about it." She turned to walk up the stairs. "We'll see you later, Ted."

He threw her a wave goodbye, all while noticing that Louis was hanging back for a moment. He seemed to be waiting for his sister's back to be completely turned. When he was sure it was, he turned to Ted and quickly mouthed, "We'll come," before following after her.

* * *

As the Hogwarts' graduation ceremony finally commenced, the group of seventh-years were led outside to take the small boats that they had taken as first-years back across the lake in a poetic and cyclical finish to what had been such a large part of their lives. Ted smiled and turned to watch the castle as the boats slowly pulled them away across the lake. That was it then. He was done.

"I was sitting in something wet," Simon said once they reached the lake's opposite bank. He grabbed at his robes. "I thought I was imagining things, but my robes are soaked."

"Only you would sit in a puddle and not realize it," said Ted as he disembarked the boat and held out his hand to help Celia climb out.

"We're done!" Maggie Connors yelled as she ran over and hugged Celia. "Can you believe it?"

"Not really," she said. "Part of me thinks that come September 1st, we'll just be getting back on the train."

"But we won't," Ted said, just as Celia suddenly put her arms around his neck and kissed him hard.

"What was that for?" he asked with a pleasantly surprised smile. He didn't usually get kissed like that when other people were around.

"Had to get it out of my system before my dad shows up," she said as all of the parents and guests began to appear around them to congratulate their children. "You know how he can be."

Ted knew exactly how her father could be, and he suddenly made a playful gesture to stand as far away from her as possible. Simon's mother and older sisters all arrived at that moment to shower everyone with praise and congratulations, followed by Celia's father moments later. He began to gush about how proud he was of her, and even—to both Ted and Celia's surprise—stopped to shake Ted's hand and congratulate him.

"Way to pull it out and finish things off," said Mr. Ward.

Ted smiled awkwardly. Given Mr. Ward's choice of words, he could help but be reminded of sex. He wondered if perhaps Mr. Ward was trying to insinuate that he suspected something, and in turn, make him feel as uncomfortable as possible. If he did, it was a mission accomplished. Ted stole a glance at Celia, who also looked to be confused by her father's choice of words. Like Ted, she seemed to be nervously contemplating whether or not it was a harmless turn of the phrase or a deliberate attempt to make the pair of them squirm.

"Oh, congratulations!" said Ted's grandmother as she appeared through the crowd and provided a welcomed distraction. She hugged her grandson and looked him up and down. "I'm so proud!"

He smiled.

As his grams turned to congratulate Celia, Ted looked to see Harry and Ginny standing just a few yards away. They were talking amongst themselves and looking as though they were letting him and his grandmother have a moment. He walked over to the pair of them.

"Was the ceremony dull enough for you?" he asked.

"It wasn't so bad," Harry said with a proud smile.

Ginny learned in to give Ted a hug. "I can still remember when you shorter than me. Now look," she looked up at him, "I have to look up at you.

Harry smirked. "I can still remember holding him as a baby."

"Oh, not you two, too," Ted groaned. "Grams I expect it from, but you two can't go getting sappy on me as well."

They both started laughing, right as Celia and Simon suddenly both stopped by to say their hellos. Everyone chatted for a bit, before Celia's father mentioned that they had to be on their way. With her father there, Ted had to stop himself from leaning down to kiss her goodbye; instead, he waved.

"See you tonight, then," she said before trailing after her father.

"Are you going to have a hundred people over at my house for your party?" Harry asked.

"It shouldn't be that many," Simon said, giving Ted a playful slap on the back.

Ted gave Simon a weary smile. He had only invited a handful of friends before Simon had gotten a hold of the idea and gone around inviting all sorts of people. He wasn't even sure how many people were showing up. "It hopefully won't be that many."

"We're not worried," Ginny reassured them. "Just don't destroy my house."

"I don't know if I can make that promise," Simon joked.

After throwing around a few more pleasantries and congratulations with Simon and his family, Ginny claimed that they had to be getting back in order to set up for the party that evening. In that moment, Ted cast one last glance back at the castle that sat off in the distance. He knew it wasn't the last time he'd ever see it, but it was different now. Everything was different now. Every time he saw it from this point forward would be different.

Once they had arrived back to Harry and Ginny's house, Ted chose to forget about being sentimental. He instead tried to get himself geared up for the events ahead of him that night. Harry and Ginny had gone about trying to make sure that everything was in order, while Simon and Ted simply stood around in the back garden pushing a few chairs around in an attempt to look busy.

"Should we put the chairs over there?" Simon asked as the afternoon started to turn into evening.

"We just moved them from there to here," Ted said as he gave up and plopped down onto one of them. "Sod it all. It's not as if people aren't going to move them anyway."

"One last hurrah," Simon said, sitting as well. "Last time we'll see a lot of these people. Unless we run into them on accident."

"You'll probably see all sorts of people at the Ministry," Ted said he stared up at the sky and watched the pink sky turn darker.

"Yeah, but you'll probably see a lot of them coming into St. Mungo's," he said. "Then again, they'll probably all be ill or hurt."

"I don't know how much time I'll be spending around people," he said still gazing upwards. "I feel as if I'm going to be chained next to a cauldron in a back room while being forced to cure diseases."

"I would pay to see that."

He smiled. He was excited about his new job, but he had to admit that the issue of his training starting the following week was sort of crummy timing. As it were, most of his friends didn't have anywhere to report to until the summer's end. Simon didn't have to report to the Department of Magical Transportation until late August, and Celia didn't start work in the Department of International Magical Cooperation until shortly after that. Ted seemed to be the only one who was being forced to rush off to work so quickly.

Ted and Simon sat around talking for another half an hour before people started tuning up for the party. Celia and her friends we amongst the first to arrive, before several more of the people Simon had invited began showing up. As more and more faces continued to fill the back garden, Ted counted twenty-three people at one point—only six of wish he had personally asked to come. He was curious if Victoire and her siblings would turn up, but put the thought out of his mind once the party got underway. This was one of the last nights he had before being forced to become a responsible adult. He was going to enjoy it.

"What time do you have to go to the hospital tomorrow?" Celia asked as she sat on Ted's lap and reminded him of what he had in store for himself tomorrow.

"One o'clock," he said as he leaned his head against her shoulder. He was not looking forward to his orientation, even though it would probably only take an hour or so. Everything just seemed to be happening so fast.

"When you're done, you should come by," she said. "We can do something."

"Okay," he said as he found himself absently scanning the garden. People were standing and talking in small groups and everyone looked as if they were having a good time. He noticed that Simon was floating from group to group like a butterfly. He seemed to be making sure he had something to do with everyone there.

Ted laughed as he watched him, but buried his laughter into Celia's arm. Here it was, his party and he was letting Simon play host while he sat off hiding in the corner. Oddly enough, this was the way he preferred it.

"What's so funny?" Celia asked.

"Simon." He laughed. "Just watch him."

"Where is he?"

"He should be over there," he said pointing aimlessly, but Simon was no longer where he had been moments before. Ted looked around in search of him until he was distracted by the site of Dominique and Louis Weasley emerging from back of Harry's house.

"I'll be right back," he said, patting Celia so she would stand and allow him up. He stood and made his way across the garden toward the pair of newcomers. "You guys came."

"I told you we would," Louis said as Dominique pushed Ted to say hello.

Ted glanced around. "But Victoire didn't?"

"Oh, she did," Dominique muttered, "but she's hiding inside."

He looked unsurprised by this. "I'll go talk to her."

"Good luck with that," Louis said as he stepped away to join the crowd of guests. Ted turned and made his way inside. As he opened the door, he suddenly overheard James Potter's voice carry across the room

"Ted says I should be in Hufflepuff, but I don't want anything but Gryffindor."

Ted snorted a laugh as he shut the door behind him. He'd been trying to convince James that Gryffindor really wasn't anything special for years now, but he refused to listen.

"Your dad's right," said Victoire's voice. "It really doesn't really matter what house you're in because—"

"Hufflepuff is best," Ted interrupted as he walked into the room. He put his hands into his pockets and observed Victoire sitting with Harry, Ginny, and James. He smiled at her.

James laughed. "You're saying that to a room full of Gryffindors!"

"Which means I need to get the truth out," he joked. He cast a casual glance at the arm of the sofa Victoire was sitting on before he sat on it. "What's up, Vic? I saw Nicki and Lou outside, so I figured you had to be around here somewhere."

"Just visiting," she said as she gestured around the room.

"Do you all have everything you need out there?" Harry asked.

Ted smiled. "Yeah, we're great."

"There's more food in the kitchen," Ginny added, "so just help yourself."

"Will do," he said before standing and glancing back at Victoire. "Well, party's outside if you do feel like coming out of hiding and joining us."

"I'm not hiding," she said defensively. "I just hadn't seen them in ages and—"

"Don't let us keep you," Harry said. "We're old and boring."

James made a face that said he didn't agree with that assessment one bit. "Speak for yourself, Dad."

"Come on, then," Ted encouraged, nudging Victoire in the shoulder in an attempt to coax her to follow him. He knew she didn't want to be there, but he appreciated her coming. She glanced up at him unenthusiastically and took a deep breath. She slowly stood and followed him outside, where he immediately scanned the garden in search of Celia. He hadn't exactly mentioned that Victoire may show up, because he wasn't sure she would. Now that she had, he couldn't help but think that he probably should have said something.

He found Celia standing across the garden with a group of her friends. She was staring directly at them, a clear mixture of annoyance and confusion in her expression. He threw her an optimistic smile, but she didn't return it.

"You know everybody," he said to Victoire just as Simon suddenly came rushing over to them both.

"You! You look amazing," Simon said as he hugged her and lifted her off the ground. "We're still getting married, right?"

"Perhaps," she said with a smile once he set her down.

"You'll come around," he added. "I mean, now that I'm done with school our chances of seeing each other are becoming fewer and far between." He sighed overdramatically. "I don't know what I'm going to do to get through the day."

Ted rolled his eyes. Apparently, Simon wasted no time falling back into old habits. "You could start by fawning over a girl who's actually interested in you," he suggested as he patted him on the back. He chanced another glance at Celia and saw that she was staring at him expectantly; her eyes already signaling for him to join her. He took a deep breath before he made his way towards her.

"You didn't mention anything about—" she began.

"I know," he interrupted. "I should have. I invited her and her brother and sister, but I guess I didn't think they'd come."

She looked over his shoulder to where Simon and Victoire were now sitting and talking off to the side. "You could have warned me."

"I know," he repeated. "But don't worry about it. She won't bother you."

She gave him a doubtful look before returning to the conversation that she had been having with her friends, all of whom were now giving Ted critical looks.

It was then, in an effort to be fair, that Ted decided to do his best impersonation of Simon and make an attempt to balance his time with all of his guests. It was only right, after all. He would split his time between Celia and Victoire throughout the night and simply bounce in between the two sides of the yard that each had unofficially claimed as their own. He even felt as if he did a halfway decent job by the night's end. Celia and her friends had kept their distance from Victoire and hers, and with the exception of a few panicked looks from Celia throughout the course of the evening, there was no drama whatsoever. It was absolute best scenario Ted could have asked for.

"T.R starts work next week," Celia said was telling a group of their friends as Ted currently found himself sitting with her towards the end of evening.

"Jeez, T.R, you're wasting no time, are you?" asked Julia Summers.

"Doesn't seem like it," he said as he stretched his arm around Celia. "I can rest when I'm dead, I suppose."

Celia smiled at him, just as Caleb started telling them all a story about how he wants to travel the world before settling down and getting a job. He was lecturing them on how he didn't see the rush in going straight from school to work since life was too short to—

"Hey Ted."

He looked up. Victoire was standing there with Dominique and Louis. She was forcing a smile at both he and Celia.

"We're taking off, mate," Louis said with a gesture towards the house.

"Oh." He stood up and stepped over Celia to make his way out of the group, "Already?"

"Yeah," Victoire said as they walked towards the house, "but it was a really good time."

"Glad to hear it." He smiled. "I'm really glad you guys could come. You know, when I get some time off from training at the hospital, we'll have to get together."

"Absolutely," Victoire said as the four of them stood just outside of the backdoor. "Good luck with that by the way. The training and all."

He sighed. "I'll need it, that's for sure." He put out his hand to shake Louis's as Dominique gave him a playful punch in the shoulder, which he returned with a small hug. He turned towards Victoire. They both stood there staring at each other. He knew the polite thing to do would be to hug her, but that seemed extremely awkward with Celia watching. Still, she had come here for him. It was the least he could do.

"Night," he said as leaned forward and hugged her. "And honestly, thanks for coming."

She nodded and pulled away quickly.

"Night," Louis said with a short wave as all three turned to disappear into the house.

Ted turned back to his friends. He knew he was probably bound to get another cold look from Celia, but as it were, she didn't even seem to be paying attention. She was listening to something Caleb was saying. For once, she wasn't glaring at him for being within five feet of Victoire. He slowly smiled. That was definitely progress.

* * *

A/N: This brings us to the end of the prequel and part one! Again, (I sound like a broken record) thanks for the reviews! They're what keep me going since without feedback, what's the point?

Next up is part two: _**"A Year in the Life" **_from Victoire's POV and part three:_** "The Spark"**_ from Ted's POV. It's the same story, just from two different perpectives. You can read either one first, but I do hope you'll check them out! :) Thanks again!


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